BOOM! A straw figure erupted in flame, a clap echoed out as Lily Lightlash lowered her hand. She tilted her gaze away from the burning straw to the figure of Kayla Clawwood. A smug smirk formed on her lips as the girl clapped at her display. Sure it was only [Fire Bolt] but she was yet to reach Five, it was impressive. She turned her head, there was two more straw figures, she could show off, yes why shouldn't she. She deserved to be fawned on for being impressive.

  Three icicles formed in the air in front of her, shooting outward impaling the straw figure on the left, before she brought up her other hand making a slicing motion as a slash of air shot out cutting it in half as she used [Ice Spikes] and [Wind Slice]. Further clapping arrived as Kayla moved towards her.

  "It's a little unfair, you know, I couldn't cast with such efficiency until I got my [Class]! And here you are miss genius casting three different types of magic in succession." Kayla said with a giggle, despite her words she had a warm smile on her face.

  Lily rolled her eyes, "Lady Clawwood, you speak as if I haven't spent the last two years of our friendship with how did you put it? My face shoved so deeply in the magic books that you mistook them for my betrothed?"

  Kayla made a faux act of shock. "My word Lady Lightlash, would thou dare imply that of me being crass and teasing my fellow Lady?" But then a moment later she burst into laughter. "Truly Lily, how many times must I insist you call me Kayla? I believe we far beyond titles and pleasentries. We shall recieve plenty of that in the Capital."

  Lily sighed, shaking her head. "You are of higher station, if I get comfortable with such... familarity and misspeak in front of the wrong person it will reflect poorly upon me and my family. You can get away with it because you are Kayla Clawwood, future Duchess and jewel of the southern border." She stated with the same stern and firm tone one might expect of a teacher reprimanding a student.

  Kayla let out of a puff of annoyance going back to where she had been sitting and firmly taking her seat, she reached out and picked up a cup of tea, sipping it gently.

  Lily groaned inwardly, the future heir of the Clawwood family proved to be entirely childish at times. Granted it was quite unfair for her to judge her, she had the advantage when it came to maturity. [Noble Etiquette] had come easily to her, most things came easy to her which was a matter all on its own. Lily had been... smart even before this whole reincarnation, however she felt even smarter now. Like something had gone into her brain and rearranged things, made it easier for her to learn things, to catch on.

  Perhaps it was just an effect of the System, it was a curious thing to be able to accurately view someone's worth in terms of numbers. She moved over sitting down next to Kayla, bringing forth her own cup of tea, idly she enjoyed its fragrance, it smelt of an apple orchid.

  "If either of us is to become a Duchess it will be you Lily. Your talent far surpasses my own." Kayla said, there was mixed feelings in her words, there was the obvious praise as she often gave to Lily but deeper still there was that tinge of envy, a bitter after taste.

  Lily shook her head, "Clearly you haven't been paying attention Kayla, I will view it as a failure if I end as a Duchess, I seek the crown."

  "Perhaps it is you who has not paid attention, one does not simply become Queen of Elsetean through talent alone." Kayla chided, although she had a big smile on her face, she always had that smile whenever Lily spoke about her grand plans.

  The girls crush was not unnoticed by Lily but rather purposely ignored. Lily already had Alice, she did not need another, although the thought of concubines did occasionally cross her mind she did not need such distractions at this time and then there was in Lily's own opinion the issue of Kaylas age. While her biological body was a child her mind was that of an adult. She had no interest in Kayla and would remain that way until Kayla was well into adulthood.

  "So are you excited? Your [Class] Selection is soon correct?" Kayla asked after a few moments of silence.

  Lily paused and thought about it, before nodding, it was indeed exciting. "Yes I very much look forward to seeing what [Class] options the System deems fitting for me."

  Kayla giggled, "You hide it so well! Honestly Lily, you come off more and more like an adult than anyone else our age."

  "Might I remind you that we do have quite the sizable age gap, I am yet to turn Five this year and you've already turned Seven. Do you not worry I will find your own maturity lacking?" Lily said with a completely straight face. Kayla looked at her shocked, and then Lily's mouth twisted into a smile.

  "You! You can't tease me like that! I was actually worried with that stupid emotionless face of yours!" Kayla complained, lightly hitting Lily on the head and making a pouting face at her.

  Lily was about to continue to tease her when there was a light cough, she turned her gaze over to the butler who had exited the house.

  "Young Lady Clawwood, Young Lady Lightlash, it is time for the ceremony. If you would please follow me." He said in a firm tone filled with gravel.

  Lily stood up, giving the butler a nod before offering a hand to Kayla. She happily took it, doing her best to hold onto it as long as Lily would allow, which was not long at all. She very quickly moved her hand away giving Kayla a short glare. Which was wildly inappropriate but Lily trusted the Butler had not noticed and she knew Kayla would not say anything.

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  "Maybe you'll start with [Wizard] to begin with! That would be amazing!" Kayla excitedly whispered to Lily.

  Lily shook her head. "[Wizard] is a Second Advancement. It would not make sense if I started with it."

  "That is correct, good job Lily." A much huskier voice said, Lily turned her head and stopped.

  She then bowed lightly. "Mother." she spoke in acknowledgement.

  Kayla also did a bow. "Countess Lightlash, it is a pleasure seeing you once again."

  Heather smiled looking at the two, "However, I am certain that your [Class] will be something truly amazing. Come let us not keep the others waiting."

  Lily's stomach sunk at that, of course the others, they were far less digestible than Kayla was. Some were even more obvious with their crushes than Kayla which was saying a lot.

  "Have you given any thought on what you'll spend your Skill Points on? You only get Ten to start with!" Kayla asked moving a bit closer to Lily as they walked.

  Lily glanced to her. "Truly do you not pay attention? I spent an entire week in your library reading every book, document and scrap of paper on Skills of course I've decided. But I shan't tell you, that would... how did you put it... be bad luck?" She said her mouth curling into a mischievous smile.

  Kayla puffed out her cheeks a little, crossing her arms as they walked. "You can't use my words against me! That's not fair!"

  Lily just kept walking, a carriage was awaiting them, not a Blackguard after all their destination was well within a normal distance. They were currently in Ravenshire as Fairhill did not have an Hall of Advancement and most of Lily's peers were not the kind to go to such a small town. Ravenshire was the obvious choice due to Lily's friendship with Kayla.

  Lily got into the carriage and took a seat opposite of Kayla, much to her chagrin. Not that Lily went out of her way to please the girl, she did not exactly go out of her way to displease her either, she simply enjoyed sitting with back to the front of the carriage. It allowed her to keep her gaze upon things outside the window for far longer than she would get to on the other side.

  The Hall of Advancement was an imposing building, black stone made its exterior and it eclipsed many of the other buildings around it, reaching out into the skies as if it was attempting to reach the heavens above. There were quite a number of people moving in and out, however the majority were those wearing mismatched gear. Lily was well aware of them [Adventurers]. She had found their appearance strange when she first viewed them but quickly came to understand why.

  [Monster Dens], whenever Monsters congregated to one area the System would designate it as a dangerous area known as a [Monster Den]. Aside from the obvious threat, the System encouraged the destruction of these areas by generating [Equipment], while it was possible to craft it was very expensive. It was much cheaper for the common person to acquire the [Equipment] created by the System.

  However that meant that often their [Equipment] was not uniform as it came from multiple different sources. From what Lily understood when hiring [Adventurers] if their equipment was uniform they were unreliable caring more about style than effectiveness. Her arrival did gather many looks, as she was escorted inside she saw many people getting into lines, all to check on their advancement or rank up to the next one.

  Lily however was of nobility and was deftly moved to a side room to wait for the [Grading Stone]. Inside her peers were already waiting on her, she kept a calm face as she looked across the room noting each member.

  There was of course David Hammerblood, the boy was one of the ones who were somehow more obvious with his crush on Lily. He was dressed in fine clothes fitting of his station but what was the most eye-catching was the gold embroidered sword that clung to his waist. Lily however she felt about this had to keep up appearances.

  She gave him a small bow, "Young Lord Hammerblood, I hear your training is going well, you are predicted to become a [Knight] within the year."

  David nodded, nervously twitching as he always did when she spoke to him directly. "Indeed... I am excited to see how your advancement goes."

  Next was Iris Windwalker, her parents owned the region next to Lily's own, the Windwalker family was known for the strong trade deals and connections to the Republic of Hiav one of the more powerful independent nations of Turia. Iris herself was... well to Lily nothing special, she was not a talented genius beyond what was expected of a nobles child, she currently wore an overly fancy dress with all the ruffles and layers that Lilys "mother" loved to put her in. However most noticeable was her clinging to a stuff bunny, the girl was nearing on Seven yet still acted quite childish.

  "Young Lady Windwalker, it is a pleasure to have you attend my Advancement Ceremony, has Silverpool been enjoyable this year? No torrents from the nearby sea I hope." Her tone was refined yet caring. She could feel the prideful look from her "Mother" without looking at.

  "A-Ah! Um! Yes it's... been very good!" There was a pause as the girl looked down at the floor before she jumped "Oh! Lady Lightlash, I hope... you get the advancement you want!"

  There was something endearing about how... hm, pathetic? No that was cruel, shy. How shy the girl was. But Lily just gave her a smile and a thank you. Next was the twins. Gloria and Gordon Fogflow. They were both dressed in the same unisex suit except opposite colors, one wearing red and the other blue.

  "Lady Fogflow, Lord Fogflow, it is an honor to have you both attend." She spoke calmly, she did not know these two well and thus did not have much to comment on.

  "Of course, we would not miss the shining star of Elsetean for anything." Gloria said with a smile, while Gordon gave her a simple nod of acknowledgement.

  Lily moved, taking a seat on a coach nearby to await the [Grading Stone]. She exchanged idle chatter with those who spoke to her, listening in one the chatter of the other parents as well. Finally the doors opened as an old man wrapped in white robes came in holding a single jagged blue stone. He walked directly towards Lily with authority.

  "Lily Lightlash, I understand you have been deemed ready to undergo advancement." His eyes studied her as he spoke, for once someone was treating her not as a peer, noble or future pawn but simply as a person. It was... refreshing.

  "Yes Sir." She spoke, she did not need to explain herself, it was her right to request Advancement at any time.

  The man nodded as he offered the stone to her, "Simply bleed onto the stone and it shall judge your prowess and the System shall give you your selection of [Class]."

  Lily breathed, she moved her hand out. Part of her was scared, she had no idea what her options would be. What if she was given something bad? A bad starting [Class] could decide her entire future. She may never find Alice if she not achieve something amazing. Her breath quickened, a single trace of sweat flowing down her brow. But then she felt a hand on her back, Kayla, her friend was there for her, cheering her on.

  Lily focused, and slit her thumb across the jagged edge, her bright red blood flowed down it, sinking inward... Lily awaited for some kind of sign, a notification, a light... and then the stone shattered.