“Today I write down my thoughts as I am filled with the vigor of excitement, as well as concern. As the last, non beacon powered officer left within what remains of our military, it brings me joy to see the capabilities of the younger soldiers who have begun to come into their abilities provided by the beacons. At the same time I am nervous for them as they seem to climb in levels of power at an unforeseen speed. Normally such a thing would be nothing but a celebration, especially in a time of war as we are now. What concerns me is when the war is over, when the fighting can be finally set aside as we return to the ways of civilized life. What will these young war veterans do when there is nothing left to fight? What will stop them from becoming bored and arrogant in their new power? I have complete faith in my soldiers for this war, but it is when this war is over that I feel I shall need to watch myself”

  ~General Foujin Venrox of the Vanguard. Year 055 A.S (After sundering)

  Andro and his grandmother sat there and discussed for a little while longer, going over his immediate plans as well as setting up the framework for future goals. He explained to her his plan on utilizing his knowledge of the future for his choosing and choosing different skills to start with and deciding on what order to acquire his other ones. His theory was if he were to possess a more fluid combination of skills from the get go, it would make his earlier rank advancements easier until he can acquire more skills and better combinations.

  One thing grandmother made sure to bring up was ensuring he did not go around just announcing he knows what happens in the future. There should be very, and she means very few people that he can reveal anything too. She had no doubt those with the skills and abilities similar to their families could figure it out, but something like that should be acceptable. Once he felt they had gone over everything that needed to be discussed he wished grandmother farewell and made his way downstairs to join his family for breakfast.

  When he entered the dining room he noticed the rest of his family was already there and enjoying the morning feast. His mother and father sat besides each other on one side of the long table while his older sister Kayla sat opposite to them furiously wolfing down an abnormally sized pile of food. His parents on the other hand were much more modest in the rate at which they consumed their own food, despite his fathers plate being just as piled with food as Kayla’s.

  The two of them appeared to be going over some paperwork together, absentmindedly taking bits in the process. Kayla was the first one to notice his presence but greeted him with a grunt as she shoveled more egg into her mouth. He had never understood how she could eat as much as she does when she favored her mothers build being tall and slender. However Andro knew in terms of personality she was more like their father and if not for the loose blouses she favored, one could see the wiry muscle packed onto her slender frame.

  Those who had never met her before would not suspect she was quite the battle junkie who favored a truly massive curved blade. Most would assume she had followed their mother towards the path of divination and become a seer. They would be half right as she had indeed gained the concept of foresight, yet she used it in what their mother described as “crude” by literally seeing what her opponents would do right before they did them, then acting accordingly.

  “Good morning Little An” his mother, Leandra Maxon, greeted upon looking up from her paperwork, a smile on her smooth well tanned skin. “Have you spoken with Grandmother yet? Also Cecelia informed me you had an attack not long after I left. Are you all right?”

  The concern in her voice along with the words themselves garnered the attention of both his Father, Alviss Maxon, and Kayla, the latter even putting her fork down to shoot him a worried look. Andor held up his hands to stall the tidal flow of questions that he knew would soon attempt to drown him and went ahead and answered them all.

  “Yes I am alright. I simply forgot my treatment in my excitement for what today is as well as from the dream. Yes I spoke with Grandmother and she says it is nothing to worry about. She believes the dreams are potential, far off paths and it could be a sign one of my concepts has divination potential.” He spewed off rapid fire in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

  Mother had quirked an eyebrow in an all too familiar gesture that told him she wasn’t fully buying what he was saying until he mentioned the possibility of gaining divination. He was hoping that hearing that would distract her enough that she would refrain from quite literally seeing if he was lying or not. He buried the pang of guilt he felt for doing so as he did not wish to raise her hopes too much for him only to crush them later upon realizing he would not gain such a concept.

  To his shame, it worked as her eyes lit up with joy and she clapped her hands together, “Oh that would be wonderful!” she exclaimed her smile growing wider

  He returned the smile as genuine as he could all while burying the memories of his last choosing day and the small disappointment he saw on her face when his concepts were revealed.

  Kayla looked over with a wicked grin and remarked, “Nah, get a good combat concept to go with it and I can teach you what I know about using it against your foes.”

  “You and your Father are much too alike” Their Mother tutted with a small frown while looking between her husband and daughter who bore matching grins.

  The table soon was filled with the friendly bickering of what divination was best used for and Andro couldn’t help but smile as he observed his family. It felt as if a lifetime had passed since he sat down with his family for a simple meal and discussed whatever topic came to be. In truth, it essentially was a lifetime ago as the ‘Incident’ had put a stop to these sort of days only a handful of years past his choosing day. This time however, he would do everything he could to avoid it and save his family. His first step towards that goal was simple, avoid attending Torim’s War College as the Incident occurred during his final year there.

  He had time though, time he would spend enjoying the presence of his family but he wouldn’t let that stop him from putting in the work towards getting stronger. He would just be a lot closer to home this go around which would give him a highly improved chance of succeeding. He figured since he still held all the knowledge and memories from his past, or future, going to the College would be pointless considering he already went. No, his best course of action would be to join the Mettle League from the very start and take advantage of their easier access to dungeons in order to advance his rank, not to mention the extra rewards one could gain from dungeons.

  So Andro simply enjoyed the delicious breakfast with his family as they all discussed the best usage of different skills and what concepts best fit certain skills. Soon their conversation even resulted in bets being made on what his concepts would be and even the kind of skills he would choose.

  “My coin is on Androlis awakening to a concept related to the earth, whether that be stone, iron, steel or something similar” His father said confidently as he brandished a skewed egg on his fork, “My son will be strong after all”

  The smile on his fathers face stretched wide with pride, visible even under the quite honestly enormous mustache he wore with honor and grace. The wild locks of dark brown hair on his fathers head looked neglected next to the facial hair and Andro knew his mother blamed her husband for Andro’s own lack of hair discipline. His fathers eye color was something else he gained, however with a small difference as his father was the color of unpolished steel while his own had a more metallic sheen to them.

  “I believe he will gain something less brutish” His mother said shaking her head at her husband, “Perhaps he could even awake the concepts of fate or even destiny similar to Grandmother”

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  His father scoffed with a wave of his hand but still grinned as he dodged his wife's playful slap that was aimed at his arm. She rolled her eyes at his antics which only prompted a chuckle out of the man and a smirk from Andro.

  “Nah, you're both wrong” Kayla said resolutely after a moment of consideration as she eyed her little brother, her own platinum colored eyes glinting as they bore into him. The two parents turned to look at their other child with matching raised eyebrows.

  “Do tell” Their father challenged with a grin

  “Mileena awakened two of her concepts very similar to mothers while her third could be seen as a minor combat oriented one. I on the other hand was the opposite gaining iron and might with the simple foresight concept as my third.” She explained then paused to let her words sink in and their parents glance at each other with thoughtful expressions, “My coin is on him awakening a concept that directly affects his body, one for divination and probably something new the family hasn’t seen before” She finished speaking with a satisfied nod and she crossed her arms and stared at their parents with challenge in her eyes.

  “If only they all knew just how off everyone was” Andro thought to himself but kept the smile on his face to not betray his true thoughts

  “Well no matter what you gain we will all still be proud of you” His mother said with a warm smile before glancing up at the timekeeper, her eyes going wide. “However we won’t find out anything today if we miss the ceremony. Come on everyone, we need to get moving or we will be late”

  Everyone finished shoveling what remained of their food into their mouths before getting up from the table and gathering jackets and boots. In Andro’s case he was handed a spare set of clothes by Cecelia for which he thanked her for. Soon the family was making their way out the front entrance of their home where their simple covered carriage was waiting with the family rokyll hooked up. The bulky creature craned its relatively long neck around to gaze at them, the dull red colored chitin that covered its entire form letting off a muted rattle as it moved. It let out a snort from its bird-like head while stamping down one of its thick hooves and Andro’s father chuckled at its antics.

  In no time at all the Maxon household was sitting comfortably in the back of the carriage and making their way down the streets of Venilar. As they traveled Andro gazed around half expecting to see burned and destroyed remains of his city, but everything was the same. Actually that wasn’t true as more than thirty years of change that he had grown familiar with was simply gone. If he were being truly honest that wasn’t a huge amount of change as most of Venilar's construction was done out of stone with little to no wood used outside of decorations.

  It was still an odd experience to see the same city he watched be decimated less than twenty four hours ago completely untouched. The massive walls that ringed Venilar stood tall and strong as they stretched on, his eyes barely able to make out the curve due to Venilar's sheer size. The east side of the city housed the majority of standard living, homes and multi-family buildings extending out like a sea of tiled roofs. The north was mostly taken up by the grove, a natural forest of food bearing plants and where most of those with nature related concepts liked to live. The west, as well as part of the central area held the vast majority of the city's industry and markets.

  The south, where his family lived, housed those of nobility or at least held a higher standing within the city's duties. However many would consider the Maxon household to be of only minor nobility, only being granted the title due to how often the city counsel calls upon them for their gifts of divination. In truth they could have easily been among the richest in the entire city. As it turns out, it was quite simple for someone of their capabilities to predict and outplay the markets. The Maxon family would never due that as one of Andro’s ancestors, one of the founders had literally spent the remainder of their life to peer far enough into the future to help them all avoid destruction. The divination was simple, but easy to understand, Greed shall be the undoing of the Maxon name.

  There was a bright side to being only a minor noble however, they lived on the edge of the district so the travel time to reach the market district as well as the city center was a fraction of the time it took regular nobles to reach. One by one they passed various small estates similar to their own and in no time they crossed over into the central district where the estates were replaced by shops, stores and taverns. Bakeries with large glass windows, all swung open to attract customers with their enticing smells, sat next to clothing stores which in turn budded up against enchanters and other similar shops.

  Andro smiled wistfully to himself as building by building passed by, the flowing curves of Venilar’s stone architecture making the scenery all that more enjoyable. Some shops favored the curves to the extent they bulged and protruded out, giving the impression someone could run at the wall and bounce off as if it was some giant bubble. The overall designs made it all quite pleasing to look whenever it rained or snowed in the city. Andro felt himself relax back into his seat as he couldn't help but remember some of the stores that he knew were going to open up in the future. He would have to remember which ones were good and try to get his family to be some of the first ones to visit.

  With his mind more relaxed than he had allowed in some time, he mentally went over the event that was to come, his choosing. Part of him wondered if it was considered cheating that he already knew what his concepts would be revealed as so he had more time to figure out what skills he should choose. He was still a bit disappointed that he never shared in his family gifts of awakening a concept related to divination, but the power awarded by the concepts of Justice, Blood and Pain more than made up for it. What he needed to change this time around was what skills to choose from the beginning and which ones to gain as he grew in strength. With the right starting combination he could have an easier time making his way through dungeons which in turn would help provide more power.

  He mentally went over the skills he remembered choosing last time, wondering if he should stick with the same ones or just clean slate it and start with entirely different ones. Last time all his skills were purely for combat and dealing damage to his foes to some degree, now that he had some actual experience he understood how entirely foolish that had been. It would be best to gather a variety of skills that can help in multiple situations, but still compliment each other. A skill that could heal would be valuable, but he was unsure if he could remember seeing such an option the last time he gained a new skill.

  One thing he knew for sure was he needed to change his role as trying to become the stalwart guardian that could smite what stood in front of him obviously did not rise to the challenge. Going the route of a pure destruction type, one who focuses entirely on dealing damage and killing would fail to meet all his needs as well. If he needed damage, there no doubt would be a slew of young and ignorant choosers who would go that route, he could easily gain their help for such a task.

  That struck a thought in Andro, an idea that flickered to life only to catch and roar into an inferno. This time he should go the route of being a support, maybe not quite as a healing specialist, but someone who holds skills that are beneficial to others and not just himself. The more he thought about this idea, the more he liked it. Time and time again he had run into scenarios where he had wished to have chosen a different skill in order to provide more power to his soldiers and teammates, now he could. Already he was forming a plan on skill combinations, physical buffs from blood, mental boons from justice and perhaps even that skill from pain that dulls pain and suffering.

  A smile crossed over his features as the path seemingly laid itself out in front of him, but he was pulled from his thoughts when he realized the idle chat of his family had disappeared, and they were all staring at him.

  “What?” he asked, not hiding the confusion on his face as he looked around at them.

  “I asked if you were going to join the college” Kayla asked rolling her eyes

  “Oh, um…” he started before cutting off with a frown as he put it to some serious thought as to what to tell them.

  In his past life he had joined the Torim war college basically immediately after his choosing day and spent five years there before returning only to sign up for the Mettle League. The College was by no means a bad choice as they provided him quite the education when it came to general academics as well as skill usage. The thing was he had already technically gone and the only reason to go again would be to choose different courses and classes to learn more. As tempting as that could be, he needed more immediate gains to his personal power that would better aid him in dealing with the incident that will lead to his family’s death.

  The best path towards both his main goals, saving his family and stopping the emergence of the Scaled Father, he would do better with a more powerful adventuring team and not an army of lower ranked members. The Mettle League was his best option right now, even if he knew his mother would prefer, he goes to college. His mind made up, Andro mentally nodded to himself and addressed his family.

  “Originally I was planning on attending the college, but I have been putting a lot of thought into it and instead I will be joining the League.” He announced resolutely.