The diary that introduced them to the basics of Magi had dedicated a couple of pages to the specializations. It was a way forward for the Magi. To become more than average and harness the power of Arcanas. Without a ‘class’, Magi were bland. Far weaker than any counterpart of the same level, be it the Shepherds or the Faes. Thus, the books in this section were vital for Thorin and the two to take the next step.

  “Oi, come here you two,” Thorin shouted and gathered them while picking out some booklets from the bundle that crammed the shelves. They stayed in the order of the Arcanas that concerned them. The booklets for him huddled together in the bottom most corner, existing with the spiders and their cobwebs.

  For the different combinations of Thorin’s five arcanas, he had several options, like Necromancer—a class that he could choose by attuning his mix of affinities to the Death and Space Arcanas. Another option was Astromancer, a class of just Space Arcana. There was also the Potioneer class that required the Potion Arcana as well as one of the Fire, Water, or Temperature Arcanas. Some other options included Wraithmancer, Scribe, Paper Mage, Febricity Enchanter, Chef, Field Supplier, Death Wizard, Undead, and such. Most focused on two Arcanas, while some were direct representation of single Arcanas.

  The more the three looked around in this section, the more the options confused them. With only four Arcanas of Clay and Quin, the list they had access to was smaller. But still, they couldn’t decide, let alone Thorin. And so, they asked the old man.

  “Grandpa, help us.” Quin begged at the desk.

  “Instead of looking for a class,” the old man said, sipping his after-lunch lemonade. “Decide on which arcanas you want to master first.”

  “Grandpa,” Clay said. “Is it possible to change it later on if we make a wrong decision here?”

  “It is,” the old man said. “But it’ll be very expensive and painful. Don’t underestimate that. If you can, decide on a specialization now and see it through. If you have the brains, even a Chef can kill a Stormlight. You just need to know how to play to your strengths and target the enemy’s weakness.”

  “How much is it for a single booklet, grandpa?” Thorin asked.

  “Two mana shards each,” the old man said.

  The three went inside again, lost in thought, and gathered before the aisle of classes again.

  “Do we need to pick a class right now?” Quin asked. “Do we even have enough mana shards to cover these booklets and all the spells we need?”

  “We should barely have enough. Mine will be especially cheap, so they won't cost much,” Thorin said with some bitterness in his voice. “And it’s better to buy these early on. That way, we’ll have a direction to work towards. If we buy them later, depending on the class, we might have to learn entirely new spells from scratch.”

  “Yeah,” Clay said. “Let’s decide which arcanas we want to go with.”

  “I’ll go with Blood and Weapon then,” Quin said. “Artifact arcana won't help me much in combat, so they’re the best I have.”

  “I’ll pick Mind and Shadow,” Clay said. “Or maybe Illusion.”

  “What the fuck do I pick?” Thorin grumbled. “All my arcanas are garbage.”

  “Like the old man said, a Chef can kill a Stormlight,” Clay said, patting Thorin’s shoulder but with a hint of a smothered chuckle. “Why don’t you become a Chef? We’ll always get to eat good stuff.”

  “Piss off.” Thorin shook him off and focused on gathering the booklets that concerned him. When he’d collected a small pile on the floor, same as his cousins, he began to eliminate one specialization after another. Some took him minutes of consideration while the others only needed a look. Finally, he narrowed it down to a few classes. Necromancer, Paper Mage, Astromancer, Death Wizard, Potioneer, Febricity Enchanter, and Undead.

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  Among the seven, the Paper Mage, the Death Wizard, and the Astromancer worked with single arcanas—Paper, Death, and Space Arcana respectively. The Necromancer focused on Death and Space Arcanas. His Temperature and Potion Arcanas would make up the Potioneer class. The Febricity Enchanter required both Temperature and Space Arcanas. While the Undead class took the special route of evolution towards higher levels of undead creatures only with the Death Arcana. His heart of ghost was compatible with it.

  Though he boiled his options down to these seven, he couldn’t bring himself to like any of them. An ember of unwillingness still burned at the back of his mind. His Arcanas were already in the black shades to begin with. The world of Magi had already declared them all inefficient. If he further divided them for these classes, he would kill any possibility of excellence in his future, he reckoned. It was just a notion that grew from his obstinacy, but he wished to see all his weak Arcanas come together to weave a strong prospect.

  “Grandpa.” Thorin came to the desk again while his cousins checked out the booklets. “Do you have any other class beside those?” he asked.

  “It’s not all the classes in the world, but most known ones are there,” the old man said. “And I told you, kid. Don’t let the classes and the arcanas decide your worth as a Magus.”

  “I don’t mind my arcanas. I’ll live with what I got,” Thorin said. “If they’re inefficient, then so be it. I’ll change my approach and make them competent with either hard work or smart work. But I still wish to do that with all my arcanas. Do you have any classes that can work with my arcanas like that?”

  The old man sighed and stopped him before Thorin could list his five arcanas. “Have it your way then,” he said and took out a weathered and battered booklet from a cabinet behind him. “Don’t blame me later when you end up hating the class.”

  The booklet contained the details of a class called ‘Arcanist’. Thorin’s eyes shined when he saw its introduction. The class didn’t need any specific arcana. Instead, it focused on the number of arcanas. The minimum number of arcanas needed to initiate the class was three. Four arcanas would create the optimal version of it. While the Arcanist’s theoretical perfection would work with five arcanas.

  Thorin had five arcanas.

  “This is a weird class,” the old man said. “Other classes, even the weaker ones, have the possibility of becoming stronger depending on the Magus. But this class is inherently flawed. I would advise you to not pick it.”

  “Why?” Thorin asked.

  The old man tapped on the paragraph in the booklet that detailed the three forms of Arcanist—the three arcanas’ version, the four, and the theoretical perfection of five arcanas. “Its biggest drawback is its success rate of the initiation and the specialty of arcanas,” he said. “If you meet its minimum requirement with just three arcanas, the chance of success for the initiation rite will be abysmal. You’ll have to try several times to succeed. And even if you did, you’ll lose a good percentage of the arcanas’ special features. The four arcanas’ version is slightly better, but it still can’t hold a candle to other classes, even the weaker ones.”

  “What about the last one?” Thorin asked.

  “That’s just the theoretical version,” the old man said. “The impractical hopes of the man who created the class. Magi with five arcanas are already rare. And those who own five have better options for their classes. They don’t need to waste their time on this. The Arcanist class has existed since long before the Exodus, yet not a single Magus of this class has left his name in the history. That should already tell you everything about it. Reconsider, kid.”

  “Is it also two mana shards?” Thorin asked. He heeded the old man’s advice, but his considerations had already chosen the best option for him. He was one of those rare Magi with five arcanas. But unlike the other geniuses, his arcanas were garbage. If he went down the conventional route with them, he would only meet mediocrity in his future. He needed to take this chance. Not to mention, he’d already fallen in love with this class. If nothing else, their compatibility should be high.

  “No, just one mana shard,” the old man said and shook his head in defeat. He looked at him with kind eyes, the depth of his wrinkles softening. “I hope you don’t regret it. But come back if you do. I’ll take the book back and give you another class of your choice for one mana shard. I’ll also tell you how to change your class. It’ll be painful though.”

  “Thanks, grandpa.” Thorin paid him a shard with a grin, got the full version of the booklet, and swaggered over to his cousins to brag about it. Others didn’t know about his five arcanas, but his cousins did. They could also see the potential this class had with him.

  “Arcanist,” Thorin murmured with a smile, caressing the book. “It has a nice ring to it.”