Five Professions

Grey thunderclouds rolled into the skies, covering the entire Birchwood Village beneath it.

In a small, almost imperceptible alley, a small, child loomed over three children.

The three children looked unquestionably frightened.

"You vile beast"

"How can you do that to us?!"

"I wanna go home. Please let us live"

The brows of the small child creased into a frown.

"Why do you make it seem like I'm about to kill you guys?"

"Isn't that what you want?"

"And why would I want that?"

"Uh..."

"Of course I'd need you guys again. Who knows? Maybe I can get some better stuff next time."

The three children quivered simultaneously. The small devil only wanted them alive so he could use them?! Meaning they would probably never escape him in their lives.

"Oh! What must we do to appease you?"

'Sure enough, kids are the easiest to trick and pilfer from'

"You must provide me with at least 300 base coins and one woo..uh..sword"

'Almost revealed that one. Even if they're kids, if they even let it slip accidentally, that I asked for a wooden sword, then it would be easy to find out where I'm from.'

"Oh mighty Sir, we don't have those things on us right now. Together, we only have 100 base coins and three wooden swords."

"I see, then hand over the 100 coins and the wooden swords. I'll come back in a week for the money and sword. "

"Yes! We will be back with the remaining 200 base coins and sword."

"Do I look like a beggar?! I said to give me 300 coins and a sword each. Don't try to twist my words."

"But..but..you never said.."

"Shut up!"

The fattie in the middle slapped the boy on the left.

"Of course, we'll be back with those as well"

"Good. Be off! And don't say a word about anything that happened here or else"

"Run!!"

The small children scrambled out of the alley leaving a small boy with a small pouch full of coins and a wooden sword in his hand.

'Those other two kids would probably stay quiet, but the fattie will definitely report this. He's quite sharp. To devise a plot under these circumstances. It's probably going to be something basic though. Like, surrounding me with a bunch of guards or something like that. Either way, I already have what I really want.'

Shuffling out of the alley, Cern took a detour from the regular path back to the orphanage.

The smell of mud and grass filled the air, as the nut-brown fences of the orphanage came into view.

"Cern! Where'd you go? It's almost time for dinner"

A small 7 year old girl ran up to him, grabbing his arm.

'Vinnie! Shit! There's goes my birthday plan'

"Is that a wooden sword? Did you get that for Talen? Wait! Three wooden swords! Did you get one for me as well?!"

'Tch! So shameless. If she's this shameless as a kid, then in future...Sigh! Not my problem anyway'

Cern handed her one of the wooden swords before trudging across the fields into the house where the rest of the kids sat, slipping the other wooden sword under Talen's seat, before taking his own.

Dinner in the orphanage proceeded as usual, with everyone saying a prayer, except Cern.

After everyone took their seats, Talen discovered the sword under his seat and his eyes brightened up.

"Thanks for the food!"

.....

A week went by, no major events occurred in the orphanage other than two kids being adopted.

'Oh yeah! I should check on those boys. I want to see what exactly that fattie thought up'

Slipping out again during laundry, Cern made his way down to the alley where he met the children from the other time.

A few houses away from the alley, he stopped and began playing around the streets with some other kids.

Of course, that was what it looked like to anyone else, but he was watching the alley for anything suspicious.

The three kids entered the alley again, but not without some protection. There was a tall, lanky man behind them, with a scar down one end of his face.

'Probably his war trophy. Looks too lanky to be a knight or warrior though, and doesn't have enough mental power to be a mage. In fact, even his dressing says he isn't a mage."

Ever since his arrival in this new world, Cern never forgot to train his mental power. According to the system, the most effective way to survive was to be a mage. As such, in all the newbie gift packs, there was an inferior level mana breathing technique. Using his mental power, he could detect the strength of someone else's mental power. Of course, the person could not be too far above him.

Pretending to chase after the ball he kicked down the street, Cern ran past the alleyway taking a glance inside it. In the alley, only the three kids could be seen.The other man they had brought with them was nowhere to be seen.

'Assassin?! No it shouldn't be possible to bring an assassin to this village. It should be something close to assassin. But since it isn't any of the top 5 professions, then this should be a breeze'

"So did you bring my money and the sword?"

Draping a black cape over his head, he sauntered into the alley.

"Yes sir!"

The two kids at the end replied hastily, as though they had no idea of their protector.

"What about you, fattie?"

The fat kid's face burned up.

"Hmph! Let's see who you really are today"

"Hmm... Are you relying on that rat in the shadow for protection?"

"Since you already know, then kneel"

A deep voice rang out from the shadow, as the lanky man from earlier stepped out.

"Hm...To think I called you a rat before. My apologies!"

"Apologies will not save you, kid!"

"You misunderstand. I'm sorry for calling you a rat. You're far too skinny for that"

"You..!!!"

A gust of wind swept out as the man disappeared.

"You're far too slow for me"

Cern sidestepped and the man's hand was revealed as he missed his head.

"How did you..?"

"As I said. You're far too slow for me"

An invisible net of mental power was already enveloping the alley. Using this net, Cern could see the man's movements even when he disappeared. It wasn't that the man was slow, it was that he underestimated his opponent.

"I simply require the money they owe and a few swords and I would be out of your hair."

"I'm injured now, which is why I can only maintain this child state. When my full power returns, I could easily crush you. But now, I can't hurt you, but you can't touch me either."

"What would it be?"

In fact, this wasn't true. As long as the fight dragged on, his mental power would deplete and the net would break and then he could be easily crushed. His life depended on this gamble.

Silence reigned in the alley for a while, before the man spoke, breaking the silence.

"Give him the money only. As for the swords, forget it."

"Hmm...What if I don't want to?"

"Then try and take it."

"Fine then! The money only"

If the rogue had taken time to think things through, he would've figured out the trick to Cern's plan.

The two kids, Dax and Laris, handed over their shares first; 290 base coins from both. It turned out that the fattie, Nixus, was the son of the village head and had 80 base coins alone last time. He provided 220 base coins in addition to that.

'No wonder he hired a rogue. He must really hate me'

The only other profession similar to the assassin was rogue. Of course, it was just a watered down version but still, it was a lucrative profession.

Cern got rid of all the tails on him before rushing back to the orphanage. Talen had just finished practice and Vinnie had just gotten her profession assessment.

"Guess what guys? I finally got my profession assessment."

"Sister Vinnie is definitely a mage, right?"

"Even if sister Vinnie isn't, it's still fine. There's a lot of other professions that are great."

Mages were considered the pinnacle profession and everyone wanted to be one. Of course, those were all wishes and not everyone could be a mage.

There are 5 major professions, considered as the best professions to be in; Mage, Warlock, Knight, Scout and Priest.

Talen was already a knight, which could be considered a great opportunity for the orphanage.

"Well I'm not a mage. Apparently I met almost every condition, except that my body prevents me from having the same damage output of a mage."

"So what are you?"

"I'm a Warlock!!"

The entire field went silent as all the kids abruptly stared at the cheeky girl before them.

The kids then pranced about happily, probably immersing themselves in all the things they could ask for once the coins start rolling in.

Warlocks are almost similar to mages, but at the same time, they are different. It is more of a dual ability profession. Warlocks have both powerful body constitutions and mana affinity. But because their constitutions are stronger than their mana affinity, they have less damage output than mages. But because they have powerful bodies, they make strong soldiers and usually support the frontline during wars.

Although it was called body constitution, it simply referred to the probability of mana being absorbed by the body, rather than nourishing the core.

"Cern! I can't wait for your affinity testing. Then maybe you'd be a warlock like me. No, you're small and skinny. You could be a scout, since you're so great at sneaking around"

Vinnie hopped circles around Cern while scrutinizing him.

'Yeesh! I really can't wait to have my affinity tested and shut this girl up'

Cern glanced at his status menu;

[Name: Cerbrian Nox] [Age: 5]

[Race: Forsaken Human] [Level: 2]

[Title: All-seeing Tactician (+2)]

[Profession: N/A]

[HP: 670/670] [MP: 450/450] [EXP: 16/40]

[Attributes: Darkness, Null]

[Stats:]

[STR: 18] [AGI: 33] [STM: 20] [VIT: 67]

[WIL: 16] [WIS: 34] [INT: 45] [CHM: 25]

[Skills:]

[Racial Skills] [Generated Skills]

[Equipment:]

[Old cloak, Wooden sword]

[Leather boots, Leather gloves]

'Only 3 months till the affinity assessment...I wonder what this forsaken human thing means'

Unlike normal races, he'd been labeled a forsaken human since arrival, so this was one of his priorities at the moment.

'I need more information'