After Elrich and I finished reconciling we had a few more experiments to run that took us the rest of the day. With Flint now animated and active we ran a few other tests to gather Flint’s abilities and mana consumption. From what we discovered Flint can draw my mana to enhance objects with death magic like a regular skeleton, However he can also use fire magic to boost his movement for a short burst or enhance an object as well. As for Earth mana it mostly is used to Strengthen his stone like bones to improve his durability.

  Besides testing Flint’s capabilities Elrich also had me confirm that I could animated a skeleton only infused with death mana to which we discovered that it is possible. Which will prove useful in the future as the traditionally animated skeleton only takes around half the mana to maintain that flint does. While we have not tested non-humanoid skeletons yet, Elrich told me it is possible to animate an animal though it requires more knowledge of the beast's body that I would be trying to animate than I currently have.

  Besides the remaining test we also had to finish preparing for the festival tonight. I ended up on cooking duty for the temple preparing several dishes, mostly roast for the festival. Though for a while there I had to wrangle a few of the other wards of the temple. Omar, Lilly, Teslin are 12 year old half-orc triplets who were entrusted to the temple a few years ago and tend to cause mischief when they can. Like today we have an hour before the festival is supposed to begin and currently one of the dessert trays filled with pastries is missing. Leading to my current search though the temple trying to find the trouble makers.

  “Come out you three, you are only going to make this worse by eating the entire tray.” I call out while making my way through the halls in the male sleeping quarters.

  Looking through the rooms is a tedious chore as there are over sixty people living in the temple at any given time. Reaching Priest Markus’s room I peer inside offering a slight prayer to Orvander the Seeker and Markus’s patron deity at the small shrine he has in the corner.

  As my eyes gaze over the room I notice the rug near the bed beneath a lantern is bunched up like it was moved to the side. With a sigh I make my way to the spot and turn the wall lantern 90 degrees to the right. The noise the latch makes as the wall pops out is drowned out by a gasp and some frantic shuffling. Opening the hidden door the rest of the way I look inside spotting the three trouble makers trying to hide under some clothes leaving the half eaten tray of pastries in the open.

  “Really you three you know Bishop Reginald is going to have you on clean up duty for a month at least with this stunt.” I say while picking up the tray. As they scramble up to their feet.

  “But come on Tom you can just say you didn’t find us and take a pastry or two and leave the rest with us.” Lilly tries to bribe me with a pleading look.

  At this Omar and Teslin both join in with the pleading looks while saying “Please let us keep the tray.”

  Looking over at the trio’s pleading I just shake my head in exasperation. Especially because of the footsteps I hear making the way down the hall towards us.

  “I do not think that is up to me you three, but seeing as I managed to recover half the tray I’ll let you three have a head start to leave the sleeping quarters.” I say with a neutral face trying to stop a grin from forming.

  Omar and Teslin perk up at that and begin to run towards the door. While Lilly just narrows her eyes looks at the door before slumping down with a sigh. As the two brothers exit the room I watch them lock in place and slowly turn their heads back to me with a betrayed look as I grin.

  “Well well it appears the troublemakers have been found.” a soft voice speaks from the hall before a tall elven woman steps into view and her hands snatch the ears of Omar and Teslin before looking up at me and smiling. “Ah I see you retrieved what remains of the tray Tom, good work finding them.”

  “Thank you Matron Ceader, sorry it took so long that we lost half the pastries. Should I take the tray back to the kitchen or do you need any assistance with these three?” I question looking at the trio.

  “No, I have these three well in hand. Go ahead and return the tray please and then you should get ready for the festival. You only have two hours until Fulusmorn is overhead.” Matron Ceader replies dismissing me.

  With a nod I begin making my way back with the whimpers of the trio behind me as I hear the Matron begin to scold them and shuffle them away. I think I hear a statement of being on dish duty for the entire night and I grin at that. I learned never to anger the young looking Matron after all she is the oldest person in the valley right now and can be very strict. Reaching the kitchen with the tray I hand it off to Chef Andrew and head to my room to change out of my flour covered outfit. Throwing on a fresh set of clothes and gathering my extra journey scroll and my dagger I begin to speed walk towards Torex’s shop.

  Heading through the town I see several people partaking in a few events already. Mostly just ring toss and arm wrestling so far while the buffet is being spread out. Off to the edge of the town I wave to Nico, one of the four guard captains watching the road towards the entrance to the valley with a few of his archers with him as I make my way to the market district.

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  Hearing a rustle of feathers and a soft thud behind me I look over and spot Isabel touching down to my left. “I hope you are not trying to sneak up on me for the rogue trial Isabel because if so that would be sad.” I jokingly taunt her as I stop while she folds her wings around her.

  She looks at me and narrows her eyes before huffing slightly, “Tom, you're late Lauren and Torex asked me to fly over to find you to make sure you were not lost again.” She responds with a slight tease.

  “You forget to take a turn one time and the world never lets you forget it. We’ll because you were so kind to come find me please lead on oh so great guide.” I mumble to start before finishing my statement with an exaggerated bow.

  She turns her head up and marches past saying, “Fine if I must show you the way you poor flightless ape,” Despite her words a slight shake of her shoulders quiver in her voice tells me her humor at this.

  As we begin to walk we both start snickering and soon laughing as we make our way to the shop. As we step onto the street with Torex’s shop we see Lauren, Torex, and Torex’s parents Taxol and Gertrude Raventusk waiting for us.

  As we approach I speak up, “Evening Mr. and Mrs. Raventusk, how are you two doing today?”

  Mrs. Raventusk is the first to respond, “Tom, so good to see you. We are doing quite well these days. You need to stop by more and help get this boy out to train more.” She speaks with a smile while cuffing Torex on the back of his head getting a grumble from him.

  “I’ll try ma’am though you know better than I that he would rather read all day.” I respond with a grin.

  “The boy is right honey, we gave Torex to many stories on powerful mages throughout his childhood that now all he wants to do is cast spells from far away.” Mr. Raventusk says with a slight grin while teasing Torex.

  “Every time Mom and Dad come on. We know Tom, and Lauren are durable enough to hold back most threats we will come across once we begin traveling.” Torex complains.

  Mrs. Raventusk frowns at that, “Torex we keep trying to tell you once the four of you begin traveling like you plan you will find things are never as simple as training foes can come from all sides and when you least expect.” She lectures him and looks over us all as she does.

  “Mrs. Raventusk is right Torex I mean the training with the guards was fine but when was the last time you went on an expedition out of town to even gather firewood or anything.” Lauren begins, “The cleric’s and priest’s at the temple always say to pay attention to our surroundings at all times. We might need to delay our travels another year if you do not take it seriously.”

  “FINE, I’ll do some extra survival training and physical conditioning over the next few weeks after Tom, and Lauren get their classes tonight.” Torex relents obviously disgruntled. “Now let’s go and get to the town square so we can witness the bestowment and the class trials tonight.”

  “Well then lets get going ohh I can’t wait to see both you and Tom get your classes tonight Lauren.” Mrs.Raventusk says while beginning to walk down the street. “Now chop chop we have a long night ahead of us.”

  “Yes ma’am” We all say as we make our way after her.

  “So Tom, why were you late? Did you get lost again?” Lauren questions with a smirk.

  Sighing, I respond, “No, the triplets decided to steal a tray of pastries from the kitchen. I was tasked with searching the male sleeping quarters by Matron Ceader. Ended up finding them in Markus’s room in his hidden storage chamber again.” I explained as we walk.

  Lauren grimaces at that, “Well I wouldn't want to be those three tonight. Do you know what punishment they were given?”

  “Dish duty for the entire night at minimum tonight.” I respond. Getting laughter from Lauren.

  “We’ll those three are missing out for sure.” Isabel adds in from besides Lauren.

  “That’s for sure, did you arrange for your Ranger trial tonight Isabel? Or did I really catch you doing the Rogue trial earlier?” I question Isabel teasingly.

  “No need to worry I’m all set to take the trial tonight under the eyes of the flock’s elders it will probably take place before your bestowment.” Isabel explains.

  Torex speaks up from next to me. “What happens with a class trial anyway? From what I’ve read, class evolutions are done through the Journey’s path ritual?” he questions.

  At this Mr.Raventusk speaks up, “Class trails are facilitated by the Ritual but they can be dangerous for the caster. So an individual at a higher tier tends to watch over low rank rituals to ensure no complications happen. Also the trial is different for each person so do not bother asking for tips.” he explains.

  We go quiet for a bit as we all process this information as we enter the town square. A quick glance around we see most of the buffet is set up and we see Mayor Reinfield standing near a chest talking with Martin and Max, the final two guard captains along with Edgar and Nico. Martin is the oldest guard captain and a cavalier with a warhorse he rides on patrols acting as the road scout. While Max is the leader of the guardian corps of the town guard and is a former student of Lauren’s father.

  The two captains and the Mayor look over at our group and give us nods as we wave at them before making our way towards the games until the bestowment in around two hours. Before long Isabel is called away by the flock leader Prolkin for her trial and we wish her luck as she splits off. Despite it all I can’t help but grin and keep looking back at the chest being guarded alongside Lauren after all that contains the amulet and crystal we need to gain our classes. Soon the night draws on and the festival gets in full swing under the light of the blue moon.