Chapter 3: The Early Bird

Karl flopped on his bed and looked out the window, to see if there was any sort of hint as to what his powers were supposed to be. The guard had a point, and the claw marks definitely had to refer to some sort of animal. Humans didn't leave marks like that. So, the first thing that he tried was focusing on adding claws to his hands. "Claw!" "Nope, yelling out skill names isn't going to do it. How do the other classes activate their skills?" Karl complained, unaware that the bored supervisors in the main car were watching through hidden cameras and laughing at his antics. [Page 2, Magic Classes Open the box of casting assistants under your bed using the thumb of your left hand, and extract the appropriate casting medium to begin attempting to activate your first spell.] "This doesn't look like the sort of marking that a spell caster should have, next page." [Page 3, Combat classes Open the box of practice weapons under your bed with the index finger of your right hand and choose the most appropriate weapon for your desired skills.] That sounded more likely, so Karl knelt on the ground in front of the bed and unlocked the upper drawer, where he found a collection of simple weapons, and even some more obscure ones, like throwing knives, single-handed crossbows, and some sort of axe on a chain that looked like it would be more dangerous to the user than anyone else. He was, unfortunately, not yet among the physically gifted, so Karl picked a short sword from among the weapons while he cursed being the last in his class to enjoy the full benefits of puberty. He had never actually held a sword before, but this one felt right, and Karl gave it a few tentative swings before trying for a more meaningful strike toward the door. [Pet Skills Not Available. You must record a pet.] Karl blinked slowly as he worked to process the idea that had come to him as if implanted in his mind. It was a message directly into his thoughts, obviously from the effects of the marking, and now he somewhat knew what he needed to do. But how did he record a pet? It couldn't be as simple as just writing it down, could it? Or maybe he needed to do something to memorize it? But first he would have to find some sort of animal. This was a shiny new military train, not the company houses at the mines, there weren't going to be any mice. If he had to touch the animal for the skill to activate, this could be much more difficult than he had been expecting. The obvious choice would be to try writing something down, and to see if that worked. Maybe there would be a book in the spell casting equipment. The drawer of tools slid open, and Karl stared in amusement at the wide variety of strange items held inside. He had absolutely zero clue about how these were supposed to be used. Some of them didn't even look like they were anything special, like this silly snow globe with no base. What were they going to do with that? Sit and ponder their Orb? Karl picked the surprisingly heavy glass ball up in his hand, and suddenly, it lit up with a bright white light. [Taming Space viewing is not available. Please Record A Pet.] At first, the message that appeared in his thoughts made no sense, but after a few seconds of focus, Karl could feel the change. In his mind, a vast emptiness was forming, giving him a sense of eternal power beyond anything he had ever imagined. "What about a Dragon? Can I have a Dragon?" Karl thought, trying to will one into existence in the taming space. Nothing. Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. Karl was deep in thought when someone touching his arm brought his attention back to the present. "Did you have any luck?" The patrolling guard asked, looking at the two open drawers, and the sword on the mattress. "Yes and no. I get the feeling that the blade is the right choice, but I'm lacking something to activate the skill. None of the other weapons I looked at are really appealing, though." Karl sighed. "Well, keep at it, you'll find something that works for you soon. If you've already got an idea, you're ahead of the others. Most of them are still asleep." "That's something, at least. Maybe I can figure this out before we get to the Academy after all. I don't suppose there is a kitchen here? I always think better on a full stomach." Karl asked hopefully. The guard smiled and gestured down the hall. "You woke up before the main kitchen for students was ready, but they won't complain if I lead you out of the room for a little something. You'll learn soon that the food at the Golden Divine Academy is somewhat special, compared to what you are used to. The magical abilities that the elites use put a huge strain on the bodies of their users, and they need the energy of magical plants and beasts to recover quickly. Trust me, you're in for a treat this time." They walked down the hall to another train car, past a half dozen rooms identical to the one Karl was in where other students from his class were sleeping soundly, and into an empty dining room, past which a kitchen could be seen. "Just grab what you want and set it by the grill, I'll get to you in a minute." The cook called from the freezer, not realizing that there was someone other than staff in the room. Karl didn't mind though, it wasn't like this was some fancy restaurant, it was more of a common area for the staff to serve themselves, with an actual cook on duty so that those who shouldn't be allowed in a kitchen didn't starve. Karl collected a pair of small steaks, a bowl of rice, a collection of assorted vegetables, anything that looked and smelled good. Then he noticed a small pile of oversized white eggs, and grabbed one to add it to the plate. [Suitable Pet Target Found: hatching] The egg directly vanished from his hand, leaving Karl staring at the food in confusion and wondering just how long it would take for a monster egg to hatch in a magical void in his mind. Would it even hatch? The thoughts said so, but they weren't giving him many details. A small straw nest slowly appeared in his mind, with a single large white egg inside. Over the course of the next few seconds, the Egg trembled, and then cracked open, shocking Karl into taking a step backward, though the sight was in his mind. He bumped into the guard, who thought he might be faint from hunger, and stabilized himself. "Sorry about that." Karl mumbled, while the guard gestured to the cook and led Karl to a table. "Don't worry about it. Everyone is a bit off for the first few days after they wake up. Especially some of the magic classes, the power can really scramble their brains. Just focus on solving those strange markings of yours, and you'll be fine in no time." The cook looked their way from behind his grill. "Having a hard time with a nonstandard marking? That's a rough one. What does it look like?" "Three claw marks on the right forearm. Big ones as well, not one of those wimpy little marks like the nerd classes get." The guard laughed. The cook smiled and turned his hand toward Karl, who didn't understand what they meant. They should be talking about a class marking, but with the dozens of visible tattoos, Karl had no idea which one might be the one they were referring to. The cook tapped a small stick tattoo, and Karl realized that it was a mage type Class marking, a wand with sparkles at the end. It was on the top of his hand, and only a few centimetres long. If he hadn't seen it in the book, he would have never noticed it at all. "There is a theory that the size of the tattoo has some relationship to the talent of the recipient, but I don't believe that's right at all. Unless it's not related to the mental compatibility, but just the ability itself. Have you got any clues about yours?" The line cook asked. "I felt right with a short sword in my hand, and the marking seems to have something to do with animals, so perhaps I'm a hunter of some sort, or a park ranger with bad luck." Karl joked. "Well, you'll find out once you get your first class skill to work. After that, you can just think the word [Status] and get an impression of how your magical abilities are growing. At least, that's how it is for Mages." The cook informed him.