We all gathered into Darwin's tree house and began to unwind. Both Pete and Navy took up Darwin's fireplace and began roasting some kind of meat of the open flame. Eventually we all had taken a seat at a dining table in one of the alcoves of the treehouse. As we sat there chowing down on the delicious meat that Pete and Navy had prepared for us, I once again brought up the classes that Pete had mentioned before. "Thank you both for preparing this meal for us, it's quite delicious." I said. Darwin chimed in with a mouth full of food. "Yesh ish sho good!" Even Dutch was enjoying a plate of meat nearby. "You are quite welcome boys. This is the least I can do." Replied Pete with a smile. "So if I may ask, what exactly did you mean by classes earlier?" I questioned. Pete wiped his bushy mustache of the meat we were enjoying and gently clasped his hands on the table. "Very well, let me explain. Within this world are many people who have obtained what we call blessings. Essentially, these blessings are bestowed by various different gods and goddesses through a type of contract that allows them to grant us these otherworldly abilities." Pete paused for a moment and raised his finger in the air. Out of the typical of his finger shot out a small bolt of lightning that went bouncing around the alcove of the treehouse. "WOW! So you can also use lighting?!" I exclaimed. "That's right, our family has been favored by the god of lightning Taranak for generations. However, no two blessings are the same. From my understanding, it is actually our hopes and wishes that help shape these blessings into their true forms that specifically represent us as people. As such, although both Navy and I are blessed by the god of lightning our abilities differ significantly. Navy can call down the lightning of the gods and use it to completely enhance himself physically in addition to wielding the lightning itself as a weapon. His blessing is called Lightning Bearer. On the other hand, my blessing is called FlyingFulmination which allows me to produce lightning from my body and control its trajectory completely. This means that I can shoot my lightning away from myself and control its form as it shoots out." Pete then lifted his finger into the air again. Except this time as the tip of his finger began to spark with electricity he began to draw a circle of lighting in the air. He then snapped his fingers and the circle of lighting burst in a flash of light before disappearing. "You see, Navy's Lightning focuses on power and is called down onto him while mine is much more centered around control and dwells within myself. Now, although our blessings are different in how they function, both of us are classed as elemental blessings. Elemental blessings are considered relatively powerful among other classes, however most elemental blessings have a natural weakness such as ours being water. Water can naturally disperse lightning or electricity, so an opponent with a water oriented blessing would be a bad fit for us. As I've explained, we are an elemental class. But, there are various other classes that blessings can be categorized into. Some of which include, transformation where an individual can transform their body through the power of their blessing. For example, if someone was to transform parts of their body or even their entire body into a beast, that would be considered a transformation class. It is important to note that transforming into an animal is really the bottom line when it comes to transformations. I once knew of a man that could transform his body into that of a stone golem, a monstrous figure indeed. However, because he transformed into something made of stone he was both considered a transformation and an elemental class, or rather an elemental transformation. That means that it is possible for blessings to breach into multiple classes. Darwin here is both an elemental class and an authority class just like myself because he can produce and manipulate his bubbles on a whim. Therefore we are considered to be within the elemental authority class, whereas Navy is classed as an elemental summoner. Another thing to note is that classes can have different variations. So while Navy can summon the lightning of the gods, there are many from the summoning class that can summon special weapons or even strange creatures from other realms…" Pete finished while having another bite of his dinner. "….Oh my gosh, I never knew that there was such a thing as classes. This is amazing! What do you think my class is!?" I questioned excitedly. Pete then coughed a couple times as he was attempting to swallow his food. "Hoh, well now that is the question indeed. Would you perhaps be able to give me a demonstration of your power young Sid?" Pete requested. "Sure thing!" I responded. I reached my hand into the air and then poof, it was gone and all that you could see was the end of my wrist. Then my hand reappeared instantaneously in the air in front of us. "Y'see, my blessing allows me to slip my hand into space and make it reappear wherever my mind is able to focus or imagine clearly. When I slip my hand into space with a lack of focus or intent then it can basically end up anywhere. That's actually how I got this hat I am wearing. Additionally, I seem to be able to transfer this ability into objects that I am holding. So If I pick up this spoon, I can then use my ability on this piece of silverware to make it appear wherever I focus on. From what I can tell, there really is no limit to the distance my hands can travel. And if I really, really focus… I can do something like this." I said as I reached my hand out into nothingness and pulled back a strange fruit I had never seen before. The fruit was very round and plump. It was a dark purple hue with a shiny gleam to it. "T-that's a Magnifigum fruit!!!" Shouted Darwin. "Those only grow on fully mature trees!!! How is that possible!?" Darwin was absolutely shocked by the fruit I had procured, when in reality I was just trying to take hold of some kind of apple… My focus definitely wasn't the best at the time. "Ho hoh ho, now this must be fate. That's actually the fruit that we use to make our Tavern's signature alcohol." Pete said with a fascinated look. "Your blessing certainly seems to be related to some kind of spacial force, but I have never seen anything like it. To be completely honest with you young Sid, I don't know if your ability even fits into any of the classes I have mentioned. Which means… you most likely would reside within the Specialty class. It is a class that is unmeasurable, and holds the most unique blessings that are considered to be highly dangerous to anyone who faces them." Pete said with a more serious tone. "I noticed that you hide your hands in your pockets to conceal your ability when using it. Not only that, your hands move at a speed that would require someone of great skill to be able to figure it out. That was a very smart decision. In this world, it can be incredibly dangerous to be known as a specialty class. On the upside you could be widely recruited to be fostered as a champion of a kingdom. On the downside, you could be hunted down and killed to extinguish your future potential." Hearing Pete's words really struck fear into me, but it also made me realize how much Gwyn was trying to protect me when he told me to conceal my blessing. I was scared of what I may face in the future if my blessing was discovered, but a part of me was also incredibly excited. It was thrilling to know that I had something that was completely unique to me, and that I potentially had the chance to become much stronger because of this blessing. "Sid, would you mind telling us about how you received this blessing and who your Patron God is? That could help us uncover more about the details of your ability." Navy asked, speaking up for the first time during our Dinner. The entire time he had been ravenously eating his food, but the entire time he was eating he was side eyeing me and Pete with interest during the conversation. "Uhh, well… How should I say this?… I don't know who the god is that gave me this blessing… A-and I was kind of just hit with a ball of light and that was that…" I said nervously. Navy literally spit out the food he had in his mouth and shouted, "What!? How can you not know?!" Pete also looked shocked and said, "Goodness… and you're already that proficient with your blessing… I can't even imagine what will happen when you discover their identity!" I wasn't sure why they were so shocked that I didn't know who my patron god was. "I-I'm not sure I understand ha ha…" Navy covered his hands with his face and let out a large sigh. "Sheesh, you really don't know anything. Let me explain. When you receive a blessing it is common and usually expected for the God who gifted it to make contact with you in some way. When you make official contact with them it can unlock further proficiency and potential to your blessing because you have now made a direct link with your patron god. Additionally, for someone to reach transcendence with their ability they would need to be linked with their god. They are basically a power booster for your ability. It is pretty uncommon for a God not to claim their blessing or their apostle they bestowed it to for that matter. And the fact that you're already this strong with a blessing that has gone unclaimed is unheard of. Your blessing is basically handicapped without the understanding of your god. You're what I would call an extremely rare case, and honestly it doesn't really make sense." Navy said as he pinched the bridge of his nose with a furrowed brow. "Wait a second, what is this transcendence? I have heard that once before but don't really understand what it means." I asked innocently. Navy muttered under his breath, "I am truly not surprised." Pete then socked him in the arm and chimed in, "Transcendence is a very special state of divinity for someone who has received a blessing. It is power that can only be obtained through a direct link with a patron God and could be considered the pinnacle of strength when it comes to blessed abilities. When you are able to transcend your blessing to a completely new state of existence, some within the world even revere these individuals as Demi-gods. In my life, I have only met two within the world and they were truly fearsome people. But something you said interests me, young Sid. You said that you were hit with a ball of light?" Pete asked curiously. "Yes… allow me to give you a little more insight on what happened…" I really wanted to ask Pete more about this transcendence and what it exactly involves… But I figured maybe it's something I need to discover on my own if it really involves linking with a god. Despite wanting to inquire more, I instead proceeded to explain everything that had happened the night I was at the Arch of Bane. I told them about Ivan and Oli, and how I was hit with a bolt of light. I told them everything about the giant vortex all the way up until I met Gwyn. I decided it would be best to protect Gwyn's campsite just in case. I didn't want anyone to go searching for his home, he was a God after all. I also didn't mention the words of the strange woman that echoed in our minds that night… That was something I needed to look into on my own. Pete and Navy's eyes were wide with shock. Even Darwin was surprised because I had not told him how I had awoken in the forest yet. I told them everything excluding my involvement with Gwyn. I thought it would be best to avoid letting out any information on Gwyn and his brothers. "T-that's insane!" Said Navy. "My goodness young Sid, so you were there? Do you have any idea what has happened since then?" Pete asked with a worried look on his face. "No… I don't know…" I replied as my gaze fell to the floor. I knew nothing of what I had caused, but I knew that it couldn't be good. "Well, I won't get into all of that right now. It's getting late and it would be best for us to rest if we want to head out from here in the morning." Pete said with a tired look. "Wait, you're going to take us with you?! Will you really?!" I exclaimed. "Hoh ho, well you said you were looking for your friends right? We can aid you as much as we can. The least we can do is bring you with us back to Cashmere. But did you say we? Darwin, are you planning to join Sid on this journey?" Pete asked curiously. "Y-yes! I…I plan to join Sid and maybe find my mother along the way!" Darwin answered confidently. But for some reason both Pete and Navy reacted strangely to Darwin's response. Pete had a somewhat solemn look in his eyes. "I see, that's great Darwin. Young Sid, before we head back to our boat for the night, would you mind joining Navy and I for a stroll? I wanted to briefly speak with you about something." Pete said. "Huh, yeah of course. Darwin, Dutch, I'll be back in a moment!" "Goodnight Pete and Navy!" Darwin said with a smile.
