PftA Book 2 - Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Assessments and a New Cohort

Because I’d researched other players’ experiences with sects in advance, the skill and combat assessments were not a surprise. Without being able to measure the affinity strength of unawakened players, it made sense the game would compensate by having additional hurdles to joining sects. It made me curious if the requirements were different based on how strong one’s affinity was.

“What did you fail last time?” I asked the player next to me as we walked down a manicured path lined with several flowering varieties of herbs. I recognized some of them as we passed. I didn’t even need Identify to tell me what they were. Several were quite valuable and had multiple alchemical uses, so I’d handled them before. Based on the hushed whispers around me, I wasn’t the only applicant who recognized the valuable flora.

Callie huffed lightly. “Everything,” she said, looking away. “I never bothered learning how to craft anything, and I didn’t see the point in getting a lot of the random lifestyle skills. It’s a fantasy world. What’s the point, right?”

She looked to me for support, but I just shrugged.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I didn’t even get to try the combat assessment the last time. I spent the whole last month grinding crafting skills. Did you know Cooking is a crafting skill? I mean, it’s listed as a Specialty Skill, but it’s the same thing.”

I nodded along with the talkative girl. “I read the assessments are based on Tiers,” I said, thinking about the penalty the other girl’s increased tier might have on her evaluation. If it was a lot, I worried that Callie might not have done enough to meet the requirements. She’d spent a month grinding. Was that enough to reach the minimum expected of a Tier Four applicant?

I had no idea.

“Yep,” she said enthusiastically, seemingly unbothered by her handicap. “You’ll probably have a much easier time getting in. If I fail again, I could always just reset my character. I’m already at four respawns, anyway. If I come in at Tier One, do you think I’d be able to get in off just my affinity?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer before continuing. “That would be pretty sweet, but I’d hate to lose all the work I put into this character. And I have so much stuff. Would you hold it for me if I need to reset?”

Realizing she was actually going to wait for an answer this time, I replied, “Sure. But hopefully, it won’t be necessary. You can also put everything into a bank beforehand. In-game bank accounts aren’t impacted by character resets.”

“How do you know?”

“I read it on a game guide. It’s something that’s been mentioned a few times by different contributors,” I replied before telling her the address to my Flip server. Though I didn’t do much with it anymore, Lisa still maintained the site and ensured new content was being added regularly.

Lisa was the best. I was so glad she was able to meld with my game IA. It made things so much easier.

The procession continued past a large garden and several tall buildings before coming to a stop in front of a three-story building. The structure would not have been out of place in most modern towns and appeared to be made of regular wood and stone. The only part that stood out as alien was the roof, which was made of aeon.

Even that could be explained away as an alloy of some sort. There were a lot of new technologies being added to rooftops to take advantage of solar energy. Technology notwithstanding, all sorts of materials were used for roofs.

The first set of assessments began as soon as we entered the building. Each sect hopeful was told to choose their primary profession from the options displayed on the wall. I took in the variety of options listed and glanced toward a few of the various assessment booths.

Considering my experiences in the previous timeline, I shouldn’t have been surprised that a sect focused on Time magic would lean heavily into Healing. Even with the limitations, it was still a valuable path. Noting the area set aside for investigative-type professions, I suspected they were mostly a Fate thing. They were the only ones with Divination-type skills, after all.

I glanced back at the list, noting a plethora of familiar crafting-related professions. There were also several more mundane-seeming professions like Herbalists, Farmers, Hunters, and Gatherers. Figuring I might as well stick with what I knew best, I headed to the area reserved for Enchanters.

“Hello. I’d like to take the Enchantingassessment.”

The man standing by the small workstation smiled brightly and motioned me toward one of the small workstations. There were only three, one of which was already taken by another applicant.

“Make a protection amulet using the materials provided.”

After looking through the materials on the small workstation, I made a quick plan and got to work. It took very little time for me to complete the item, surprising the sect Enchanter who was serving as the assessor for the test. I was almost immediately directed to the door for those who’d passed the skill assessment.

Before I departed, the Enchanter said, “We’re always looking for talented Enchanters. Given your secondary affinity, I’d be interested in hiring you to work in the Enchanting Hall. If you’re interested, stop by the contribution desk and give them your name. I’ll leave instructions for you there.”

I was pleased by the offer, so I told him I’d consider it and headed through the marked doorway. I wasn’t sure if I would accept the man’s offer, but it was definitely nice to know I’d impressed him.

A short while later, Callie entered the room with a huge smile.

“You did it!” I exclaimed. “Congratulations!”

The girl beamed before taking a seat next to me. “I did! A month of paying for Cooking lessons really paid off! I’m actually pretty awesome now. You know, I tried cooking in real life, and it was so much easier after learning in the game. It was different, though. I didn’t feel as confident at first. But I remembered the lessons and how handling a knife felt. It was actually pretty surprising. I wonder if the devs realize they can use the game as a real-life skill trainer.”

“Probably,” I said with a chuckle before changing the topic. “So, are you prepared for the combat portion?”

Callie nearly started bouncing in her seat. “Hell yeah! That’s going to be the best part. Since I play solo most of the time, I have to be pretty well-rounded. Even then, I have to be careful going into new rifts. I usually team up with others the first time I take on a rift. We have a whole forum dedicated to solo adventuring, and a lot of people use that site to find temporary party members. Most of us have already learned our lessons about trying to solo an unknown rift, so it’s not hard to find people to delve with. The local Adventurer’s Guild works too…”

The other player continued chattering about her experiences in the game while we waited for the initial assessments to conclude. When they were finally done, I noticed most of the applicants had made it past the skill assessments.

“Congratulations for making it this far,” one of the Elders said as she entered the room. “We only lost two applicants this time. The next assessment will gauge your abilities in combat. There will be no magic allowed during the assessment. That includes internal enhancements. For some of you, this portion of the assessment is merely a formality. For others, it is a critical part of determining whether you will join us.”

“Uh oh,” Callie mumbled. When I looked at her questioningly, she whispered, “My fighting style is built around using Haste and Slow. I’m not sure I’ll be good enough without magic.”

“You’ll be fine,” I whispered supportively. “Just do your best. You already passed the hard part.”

The girl’s face shifted and settled into an expression of determination. The testers wasted no time separating us into groups of three or four. Because she was sitting next to me, Callie and I were placed into the same group, along with a male NPC who was sitting in front of us. The room we were led to was large and held a rack of training weapons along one wall.

The NPC went first, which gave me and Callie the chance to watch the process. After a few exchanges unarmed, the applicant motioned toward the bow and said something that we couldn’t hear, demonstrating the effectiveness of the sound-muffling wards. They moved on to a few different weapons, and it didn’t take long for the applicant to be directed toward one of the side doors.

I was called to be tested next. After the unarmed assessment, the man testing me asked, “What is your primary weapon?”

I removed my staff from my ring. “I made this. It can split into batons with enchanted functions. I have several more variants, depending on the situation.”

The sect member looked interested but told me to put the weapon away. “This is just a basic assessment. I’ll test you with the staff and batons. I’m assuming you have other weapon proficiencies as well?” When I agreed, he nodded thoughtfully. “We can explore those another time. This part is just a formality, really. Your Enchanting skill was already enough to earn your entry.”

Though he’d indicated the assessment didn’t matter, he still pushed me to show what I could do with my chosen weapons. After a few minutes of back and forth, the man told me to stop and sent me through the same door the previous applicant had used.

I turned back and sent a thumbs-up to Callie before exiting the room. Another sect member was waiting outside the door. This one had very plain robes similar to those I’d seen on some of the outer disciples during our walk. They weren’t nearly as elaborate as the individual I’d just sparred with, and the Elders running things had been a step beyond even that.

The disciple handed me a token a bit smaller than my palm. “Inject your mana into the token. Don’t lose it,” the young man said quickly before motioning for me to follow him. “You can get a string or chain if you want to wear it around your neck. Some people do that. Most just keep it in their storage rings. If you don’t have one already, you’ll be able to earn one with contribution points. They’re the sect’s currency. You’ll get a briefing on all of that later.” He stopped outside an ornate set of double doors.

He pulled one of the doors open and motioned for me to go inside. As soon as I stepped through the threshold, the outer disciple released the door and hurried away, likely returning to his post outside the assessment room.

Inside were several applicants – or perhaps new disciples was more accurate now. I recognized a few of them, including the one who’d been in our small combat assessment group. It didn’t take long for Callie to catch up, and she let out a barely constrained ‘whoop’ of excitement when she saw me waiting for her.

“I passed! I’m so excited! We can be Young Mistresses together!” she exclaimed as she nearly skipped over to me. Before sitting down, she paused. “Unless you’d rather be my friendly rival?”

As the thought percolated in her mind, she got increasingly excited. “Oh! We could make it a thing where we compete and pretend to hate each other! Let’s do that!” She grabbed one of my hands as she sat next to me. “Every protagonist needs a rival! It’ll be so much fun. Just remember that I really like you, okay?”

Without waiting for my response, the friendly girl disappeared, replaced with a much cooler version of herself. She immediately dropped my hand and made a sound of distaste before sliding into a nearby chair that was still close enough to converse but not right beside me.

“I will most assuredly be the better disciple!” she declared in a weird, quasi-English accent while sticking her nose in the air. I tried hard not to laugh but failed. “How dare you laugh at one such as I!” she exclaimed haughtily.

Before she could continue her playacting, a man with an air of authority entered the room. He was dressed in robes very similar to those Master Kairos had worn during our lesson, only with slightly less ornamentation.

“Welcome, future outer disciples! Before you can officially join our illustrious sect, you must first swear an oath. Joining a sect is a momentous decision. It is not to be taken lightly. Sects are families, and as such, we expect a certain degree of loyalty. If you’ve come hoping to steal secrets or cause problems for the sect, it would be in your best interest to turn in your token and leave.”

As soon as he’d said we had to swear an oath, I had Lisa send a message to Rhona asking if the oaths in-game were binding now that I was awakened. I was almost certain they weren’t for anyone unawakened, but magic was weird, and I wanted to make sure. Just because I tentatively planned to join the sect in a couple of years didn’t mean I wanted to bind myself with oaths now.

The Elder eyed our group critically before smiling. “I’m Elder Chronas. I’m glad to see none of you have ill intentions toward the sect. It happens occasionally. We will now do the oath…”

I was starting to get nervous when a message appeared from Rhona.

[Rhona AldQuartz: Oaths are completely inactive within the main game. They only work in specific areas of the Junction. You’re good.]

With Rhona’s assurance, I completed the oath of loyalty. It was surprisingly basic, only focusing on honoring the sect and its secrets. There was a portion that covered not working against the sect as well, and I immediately thought of all the ways people could twist the oath to work to their benefit.

I’d have to remember to ask Master Kairos about the oath as well. It seemed like there was a lot of leeway for abuse.

“Wonderful!” the Elder exclaimed with a single clap. “You will each be provided with a private room in one of the nearby dorms. Due to the timing of your acceptance, the next set of classes will not begin for several weeks. Spend this time getting familiar with the sect. Go to the library. Complete quests and earn contribution points. Once classes begin and you select your parties, you’ll be allowed access to our sect’s rifts.

“Until then,” the robed Elder continued, “get to know your fellow disciples. If you have any questions, send them to Elder Stavros Destiny. His contact information will be in the data packet your interface should be receiving now.” The Time Mage paused momentarily as he briefly glanced at one of the sect members I assumed was an Inner Disciple based on his robes. “Most of your questions will be answered during orientation before classes begin. The date is in the data packet. Fortuitous Beginnings, new disciples.”

With that odd statement and the nod of his head, the Elder left us to the lower-ranking disciples, who immediately moved to escort our new cohort to the dorms.