"Even in actual adventures, dungeon delves, or tower climbs, some days are just slow. Raids are a different beast entirely." ~Shallies Mythernal

Shallies made another attempt at making bread. This time, she wanted to make a square sandwich bread. The ones in Cinterbrim Town were ample enough, with sourdoughs, baguettes, and rolls to name a few, but she wanted the simple white square bread. It was another extinct recipe, probably now only known by scholars or historians, and never practiced.

Ingredients were simple. Any type of available flour, all purpose flour in this instance, yeast, water, salt, sugar, and olive oil during baking.

She quickly prepared the dough, using all the ingredients, save for the olive oil. This time, she made sure all her measurements were accurate, relying on memory that had never diminished despite living for twenty millennia. A Godkiller who had the tendency to forget was a no good Godkiller, after all.

After kneading the dough, it was finally time to let it proof. She sighed, because that meant there was nothing stopping Grace from barraging her with questions. And the half-orc had been itching to shoot them the moment they got into the kitchen.

"Fine," Shallies said, waving a hand at Grace, who had been staring at her with sparkling eyes. "What do you want to know?"

"How did I get into that dream?"

Grace had her mouth opened for a second question, but Shallies lifted a finger to remind her about sending them one at a time.

"You were close to me," Shallies explained. "And because you're bonded to me as my student. Most of the time, it's Apple joining my dream. But she's been adept at controlling how often it works on her, since she's taking care of my lack of sleep. You don't have that capability, so you'll get dragged every time a god or dead god tries to send me a vision."

"Oh, so you know it was going to happen?"

"You joining the vision, yes," Shallies pointed out. "Me getting a vision, no."

Grace tilted her head. "And you don't mind that? What if it was about something private?"

Shallies shrugged in response. "I'll just push you out. Simple."

"Oh…"

The Godkiller observed the half-orc's face fall with disappointment. It was like looking at a kid who dropped her candy, or a princess being denied a blessing by a unicorn. They all looked like they just lost something important, when it was the natural way how the world worked. But Shallies wasn't one to keep a student sad. Especially not this early.

"Fine, I won't push you out," she said finally, bringing life back to the half-orc's eyes. "Just make sure you don't tell anyone unless I tell you it's alright."

"Even Tayin and Ren?"

"Yep."

Grace was quick to nod. "I promise!"

"Good. Next question."

They spent the next half-hour talking about the vision. It began with confirmations or verifications. Things that Grace had personally seen within the dream, but wasn't sure if they had actually happened or not. Then it shifted towards the topic of reincarnation, but the Godkiller quickly emphasized that no one should treat it as an escape, or as a way to change one's destiny.

"You only have your life, Grace," Shallies noted. "Your soul might be influenced by your past lives, but it shouldn't dictate how you should live your life now or in the future. You should never consider reincarnation as a way to live again, or have a second life. That won't be you anymore."

"So living longer is the only way, if I want to keep living?" Grace asked.

"Yep."

"Is there absolutely no exception?"

Shallies scratched her head. "If there is, they've hidden it well. You're right, I shouldn't consider the option as an impossibility. Even so, I don't think you should rely on it. If you want to live longer, then just find a way to live longer now."

"I see, I see."

Their discussion eventually evolved to the topic of the mechanics of visions, such as if they were only delivered in dreams, or if there were other ways. Naturally, the Godkiller gave an explanation.

"Through dreams is their common way of sending a vision, simply because gods are lazy," she began. "They'll leave this type of message and send it to you. They don't want to check if you're free, or if you're busy, or if you're doing other things or focusing on other stuff. Channeling them through natural dreams incurred through natural sleep is the easiest way to ensure that they're not disrupting you

"That's to say that there are other methods. They can make a visit, and personally tell you what's on their mind, but they reserve that for emergency purposes. They can send a messenger. That's something they use if they have other plans for the messenger themselves, and are trying for efficient execution for their plans.

"One of the very rare ones is where they leave a letter. It actually tampers with Destiny, alerting a lot of divine entities. It's such a significant event, that they technically have to go through me for permission. No one wants to do that. So we've only really done that a few times during a desperate Divine War."

"It sounds like visions in dreams are very inefficient then," Grace commented. "In those other methods, it looks like they can deliver their intentions more clearly, compared to something as vague as a dream."

Shallies nodded and shrugged. "Well, yeah. That's true. But we're talking about visions from a dead god here."

"Oh, that's right!" Grace gasped. "It would be weird for Fello'resh to make a vi—."

Shallies stopped the half-orc, using a hand to cover her mouth. She released Grace just as quickly.

"What?"

"Don't say things like that," Shallies began.

"What?" Grace repeated. "I'm not using his name in vain."

"Yeah, but you're involved with me," Shallies explained. "Never infer to a god doing any sort of action. You might cause a rippling jinx."

"Eh? Is that where seemingly unrelated occurrences happen to make a prediction come true? And how come you can say those things, but not me?" Grace grimaced. "How likely is that to occur for a dead god, anyway?"

She shook her head. "Actually, that's been confusing me for the longest time now. How is this dead god different from Valor'el's god?"

"I said one at a time, Grace," Shallies reminded her.

"Ah! Sorry!" The half-orc quickly made some small bows. "I got too excited!"

"In any case, my real issue with a rippling jinx is that it can sometimes involve impossibilities. Remember, you are bonded with me and in my presence. If Fello'resh gets even a hint of where I am, it might cause us issues that're worse than him taking a visit. For a dead god, sure, chances are pretty much nonexistent, but no precedence doesn't mean it's impossible when it comes to gods.

"As for why I can do it, it's because I have enough veils to conceal me even from a living god. People like Valor'el and Phey'lan can do it too. You'll eventually learn to do it, too."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Sounds like something we should've known before we became your mentees," Grace commented. "What if Ren or Tayin say anything about a god doing something?"

"We'll talk about it," Shallies said. "And I did warn you about stuff like this happening, Grace. And like I said, if you can't handle it, you can quit."

"No, no, no! I was just kidding."

Shallies narrowed her eyes. "Sure. Whatever you say."

"Really!"

"Go finish your milk, then go back to bed. There's still a few hours until sunrise, and you'll need all the sleep you can get for today's training."

At that, Grace smiled.

"Yes! I'll go sleep!" She downed her glass of milk in a single shot, and then quietly but quickly went up the stairs.

Shallies shook her head as she went back to the kitchen to check on the proofing dough.

If you're excited like that, you won't get much sleep.

Just then, Grace came down the stairs.

"If you have a lot of veils, can't you just use them if we slip up, or something?"

"Don't give me unnecessary work," Shallies said, not even coming out of the kitchen. "Go to sleep."

"Yes, ma'am…"

"So, second Classes."

"How do we get them?" Tayin asked.

They were standing on Catelyn Fields. Shallies had decided to call it that since it was directly connected to Catelyn Road anyway. She had also decided to name everything on this land, their land, after her deceased friend.

As usual, she was having a meeting with Grace, Tayin, and Ren. This time, however, she instructed them to meditate while listening and talking.

"Well, actually," Shallies said, trying to catch who would break their focus first. To her students' credit, no one did. They all simply sat on the ground, eyes closed, and waiting for her to continue. So, she did.

"We should first finalize your second inherited Skill." Shallies opened her System Console, reviewing their choices. There wasn't much to review, though. "Are you guys sure you're taking the same Skills?"

"Is that a bad decision?" Ren asked.

They were all thinking of taking Enhanced Mana Regeneration. A Skill that would work well with Mana Energy. Shallies was benefiting on it the entire time, so she was glad that her students came up with it on their own. But there were some caveats.

"Not really," Shallies began. "It's a good decision, and quite impressive, actually."

She pointed towards Tayin. "My concern is that you already have it at Apprentice Skill Proficiency. Just one more and you'll immediately lose the benefit from having it on Expert Proficiency, while not learning a new Skill at all."

"Ah, then I'll take my second choice," Tayin said almost immediately.

"You were expecting me to point it out," Shallies concluded.

"Just checking if there would be anything special if I took it again, but from you this time," the halfling admitted, shyly scratching her head.

"Well, no, unfortunately." Shallies moved to erase Tayin's choice. "What's your next option, then?"

"Mana Multiplier."

Shallies thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "That works, but I'll give you a special rule."

"What rule?"

"As you know, Mana Multiplier multiplies your entire mana pool. It's a Hero Class Skill. At Expert Proficiency, that means it's multiplied by five times. That's a huge chunk. However, I would only like you to use up to four times your mana pool."

"Because that's the amount I'll end up with once I get my own Skill Proficiency to Adept?"

"Correct."

"Why not just give it to me in Adept?"

"It's the System's limitation," Shallies explained. "Plus, it helps you remain aware of your reserves. And it's not like I'm not allowing you to use it. In emergency cases or difficult situations, you can use as much as you want."

All this time, Shallies observed Grace clutching her head.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I wanted to take the Skill, too," the half-orc admitted. "I figured I could just use your mana potions to refill my reserves."

"Do you want to replace your choice, then?" Shallies asked.

"I'm thinking you're not going to give us an infinite supply of mana potions," Grace guessed, which caused Shallies to smile. "I knew it!"

"Eventually, you're going to have to supply your own," Shallies admitted. "I'm your mentor, not your sponsor. If you can convince me to sponsor your supplies, then we're talking. So, what's it going to be?"

"I'll stick with my choice first," Grace said, closing her eyes in defeat.

"And you still have two Skill Points to use," Shallies reminded her. "You can take your time with those, and just get used to your current Skillset. But with the speed you'll be leveling, you're going to have a problem hoarding too many points, rather than using them."

"I'll choose one today," Grace said. "I need to do a bit of reading first. I don't even know how to use Nurture Stellar Mana, yet."

"What's that?" Tayin asked. "Sounds amazing."

"Ah, yes, thank you for that, Grace." Shallies held up a finger. This gesture, a common move she used to get people's attention, now served as training for them. Ren was the first to react.

"No casting," he said. "No accumulation of mana whatsoever."

"Good job, Ren. I'll give you full points for now, but next time, you can't disrupt your meditation."

[Congratulations, Ren! You received some Good Job Experience Points!] Stachie proclaimed to everyone present. It helped encourage the others.

"Drat!" Tayin cursed.

"Ah! I was too busy meditating," Grace added.

"Sorry," Ren said, resuming his meditation.

"Anyway, I'll have you, Ren and Tayin, take Nurture Stellar Mana as your next Skill when you gain a Skill Point. It'll help you prepare early when you get to Favor or even Hero Class."

Shallies then spent a good few minutes explaining to them what Stellar Mana was, how Favored and talented Hero Classes utilized it, and how the divine used it in replacement of normal mana. Naturally, this made the two excited and easily agreeable to the suggestion of taking it as their next choice.

"You still haven't taught me how to use it," Grace said.

"You'll need a Second Class first," Shallies said. "Which brings us back to that topic. First of all, you need to set your System Consoles to not automatically add a level to your current Class when you gain enough experience."

"We can do that?" all of her students asked in varying timing.

"Yes, go do it now. You can ask Stachie to help."

It was a simple navigation, and it didn't take them long to find the option.

"Right, now that you have that set, the next thing you need to do is earn enough experience points to gain a level. Obviously, we can't do that now, so we'll put that on the side and prepare for when you're choosing your Class. It's basically the same way you earn your first Class."

"Oh…" All three of them said.

"The Academy might've mentioned something like that," Ren commented.

"Easy to forget stuff like that," Tayin added.

"I was probably asleep back then," Grace admitted.

"Right, don't sleep in my lectures, Grace," Shallies started.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Anyway, just choose which Class you want to take, put that on your System Console, and follow the requirements it'll ask you to fulfill. It could be as simple as killing a monster, or casting a specific Spell, or performing a specific Skill. I had to serve Mayor Schooner a dish to get my Chef Class."

"So the issue now is just choosing our Second Class, right?" Tayin asked. "I've honestly not thought about it until last night. I still haven't settled down on a choice."

"That's fine," Shallies said, holding up another finger. "You can take your time, but I want your next Level invested in a new Class."

"Fire Lance," the halfling answered first.

"Good job, Tayin." Shallies nodded. "Bonus points for not breaking concentration."

[Congrats, Tayin! You got yourself some big Good Job Experience Points!]

"Thank you," the halfling said, giggling shyly.

"Are you still going to be a purist?" Shallies asked Ren. "Swift Blade, wasn't it?"

"Not sure anymore," the Shield Knight admitted. "I'm thinking I might just double down on my defensiveness and be a Disciple, then work towards becoming an Anti-Magic."

That raised a lot of eyebrows.

"You know how despised that Class is, right?" Shallies was the first to ask.

"That's literally what the bad guys choose, Ren!" Tayin added, almost shouting. She had lost concentration completely.

"Tayin…"

"Oh, sorry!" The halfling went and reestablished her meditation.

"Go ahead, Ren," Shallies started, "What's your reason?"

"It's just simply to make myself sturdier," Ren explained. "If I can specialize in defending both physical and magical attacks, then I'll be able to take the front more. If my teammates don't have to worry whether I'll be alright or not, then they can focus more on fighting."

"But a Shield Knight can become a Grand Cross," Shallies rebutted. "That Class can defend against magical and physical attacks."

"But I can also become a Great Wall," Ren countered. "It's entirely focused on defending against physical attacks. I heard a story about Pat, the Fearless. Gar was on and on about it."

"He blocked an actual mountain with his bare hands," Shallies said, knowing exactly what Ren was talking about. "He was a Great Wall, the strongest among them, historically speaking."

"That's the one!" Ren exclaimed.

"A literal mountain!?" Grace gasped, breaking concentration. "Ah, darn it!"

"As a Great Wall, you become one with your shield. You become the shield, the wall." Shallies nodded. "I see what you're trying to do. But Tayin has a point. It's a Class that's highly frowned upon."

"But you have it, right?" Ren said.

"Not at as high a level as Pat," Shallies admitted. "I could probably block three-fourths of that mountain."

"I mean the Anti-Magic Class."

"Oh, right." Shallies scratched her head. She was reminiscing about Pat a bit much. "I have it too."

"Then, I don't think it matters if people hate me for being an Anti-Magic," Ren concluded. "I'm using it for good. No Class should be inherently evil. It's not its fault."

Shallies turned to the halfling.

"You're not against it?" Tayin asked, returning the look.

"Ren's right," the Godkiller replied. "No Class is inherently evil. And it is his career. If you want to influence his decision, that's up to you. I'm not against it."

The halfling sighed. "There's still time."

Lastly, Shallies turned to Grace. "What about you?"

The half-orc sighed, maintaining her meditation while she tried to speak. "I'm still thinking about it."

Given the amount of decisions she had to make, this was an expected answer.

"Alright, take your time." Shallies nodded and turned to return to the tavern. "Now, no fighting amongst yourselves. Keep meditating until lunch time, but I want you to try standing up while doing it. Repeat it as many times as you can."

"Where are you going?" Grace asked.

"Apple's entertaining our first guests. A bunch of adventurers from Stoneglow City." Shallies waved at them without looking back. "I have a tavern to run."

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