“Which role would you most like to take: Support or Damage?” Nicholas asks.

  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this question wasn’t it. I take a mouthful of food while I consider it – I’ve barely tasted my lunch so far as the conversation has taken far too much of my focus. At least my Bound are enjoying themselves – satisfaction runs through them and the crunch of bones cracks through the air.

  “Explain the question, please?” I ask him. I think I have an idea of what he means, but I want to be sure. He obliges.

  “Damage roles are those who deal damage. Support roles are those who support the fighters. It seems evident, yes? In practicality, some Classes are more suited to one role or the other. A Healer, for example, is almost entirely a Support role. A Spellblade, on the other hand, is almost entirely a Damage role. A Healer may have some Skills related to dealing damage, and a Spellblade might have a healing or enhancing spell as part of their repertoire, but those are not their mainstays. As Tamers, we are blessed in that, with the correct Bonded, we are immensely versatile and can therefore choose. Tamers tend to fall into two categories – the ones who support their Bonded and take on a Support role, and the ones who are supported by their Bonded and take on a Damage role. Knowing which role suits us better helps us to decide what Skills we take on, and how to develop them. Therefore, which one would you say you lean more towards?”

  It’s an interesting question, though I have a feeling that it’s a bit of a test – I suspect that Nicholas already knows the answer and is trying to see whether I do too. The little interrogation while we were walking here and at the beginning of the meal proved that Nicholas likes his analysis. It’s a bit annoying, but I kind of understand it – he’s trying to suss me out just as much as I am him.

  “I would say I take more of a Support role,” I answer thoughtfully. “Though I do take on a Damage role a fair bit too.” Nicholas nods slowly and looks entirely unsurprised.

  “The main problem I have seen is that you mix the two, and end up not doing either as effectively as you could. Which is why I ask which role you would like to take.” That, I wasn’t expecting to hear.

  “Explain, please? What do you mean I’m not doing them as effectively as I could?”

  “A Tamer who is a Support role will generally stay in the most protected position of the fight. They will offer instructions based on an overview of the battle, and will support their Bonded in various ways. In your case, that would most likely be with healing and magic to change the environment to support your fighters and interfere with the enemies. For another, it might be to enhance their fighters and curse their enemies. Or to cast divinations to try to determine what the enemy is about to do and warn their Bonded. Ultimately, the role of a Support Tamer is to set the scene for the Bonded to have a better success against the enemy. It is not to fight themselves except, perhaps, from a distance.

  “Conversely, a Tamer who takes a Damage role is the focal point of their Bonded. Our family has historically produced many Damage-focussed Tamers and so we have several Skills as part of our heritage which increase the power we can bring to bear based on our groups of Bonded. One example you know is the Transformation Skill that allows the Tamer to take on elements of their Bonded. At higher levels or with other complimenting Skills, it’s possible to take on more than one element. Imagine going into battle with the armour of your most armoured Bonded, the claws and teeth of your most vicious, and the agility of your most dextrous.”

  “I see,” I comment slowly. “So essentially a Support role Tamer is a general with an army, where a Damage role Tamer is more of a one-man army?”

  “In essence, yes,” Nicholas agrees. “And the focus of the training I offer you will depend on which role you would like to take.”

  I hesitate. I hate making decisions where choosing one option closes off the other entirely.

  “Is it possible to do a mixed approach? You said that even a Healer might be able to fight.” Nicholas inclines his head slowly.

  “It is possible, but it is not advisable. Even if our lives are extended beyond the average mortal man by our Classes, we still do not have enough time to thoroughly explore everything. Choosing to follow both paths equally means not following either well. It is a matter of deciding where to spend our limited time.”

  While I know we need to discuss more on that subject, I’ve been distracted by what Nicholas has just let slip there.

  “Our lives are extended? By how much?” This is something that I was never able to fully answer with only the information from the knowledge stone that Nicholas gave me a year ago. He eyes me with a hint of amusement.

  “It depends on how far we progress with our Classes and how many points we add to Constitution. The former increases our longevity by small amounts and the latter increases it by significant amounts. The longest anyone has lived in recorded history is just over five hundred years. That was someone who got to level ninety-two and added almost all of his points into Constitution. I wouldn’t recommend that, not for our Class. My family has other options to extend our lives which, while not quite as effective as Constitution points, are still superior to what is available for most people. Of course, even with Classes few people reach three hundred – as I told you before, to pass level fifty requires either great wealth or dangerous hunts. All too often, an ambitious Classer ends up eaten by their intended prey.”

  “Thanks,” I say, taking a moment to process that. Five hundred years….half a millennium. I’m not sure whether I’m excited, disappointed, daunted, or relieved. It’s five times what humans on Earth could even hope to attain, yet at the same time, it’s lower than I thought might be possible. And it’s no surprise to me that progression requires putting oneself in dangerous situations. Though I am a little surprised that level fifty seems to be the limit for those who don’t – I’m already level twenty-five. In numerical terms, that’s halfway there, though I know that in practicality, with the way the Energy requirements for each level keep increasing, it’s nowhere near.

  “Regarding the decision between Support and Damage roles…I don’t know,” I admit to Nicholas, returning to the topic at hand. “I don’t want to ask my Bound to do things I would not be willing to do myself. I hate it when my Bound die as a result of my instructions to them. But at the same time, I recognise that it works better in battle if I’m watching from a slight distance.” When I get too close to the action, I lose sight of the overall picture. Today’s battle was a case in point. It’s something I’ve worked on in the past, but we haven’t really needed to fight in any big battles since Tree-whisperer came to attack the village. And then, there were certain points in the battle where I was the only one who could act.

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  “We face the possibility of our Bonded dying anytime we enter battle,” Nicholas tells me in a tone that could almost be considered harsh, but which has a quiet tone of sadness to it which undercuts its severity. I don’t doubt that he’s lost and mourned Bound of his own. “All we can do is make sure that the battles we enter are the right ones, and to not spend their lives pointlessly.”

  I want to argue, but I can’t find the words. Because in many ways, he’s right. Running away from battle is not the answer because sometimes there are battles which must be fought. Running away from Tree-whisperer would have been cowardly, for example. But trying to find an alternative to battle was the right thing to do for all of our sakes. If I’d been able to convince Tree-whisperer not to fight, I wouldn’t have lost Honey or Storm.

  So I guess the answer is just to get as good at keeping them as safe as I can. And perhaps to make sure that people choose not to mess with me in the first place. Maybe if I’d been more forceful in showing the samuran force that they wouldn’t be able to win the fight, Tree-whisperer wouldn’t have continued her attempt to conquer us and we wouldn’t have lost so many samurans and my two companions.

  Nicholas said that Support is about having an overview of the battlefield, controlling the environment, healing, enhancing allies, and what sounds like debuffing enemies. Apart from the last two, those are things I’ve been working on anyway, and I might be able to figure out how to buff my companions if I spend a bit of time experimenting. Carefully – I don’t want to accidentally hurt them. Or maybe Nicholas has a Skill he can give me. And I determined months ago that my main role was bringing the right fighters onto the battlefield in the first place. I think that I’ve been heading for a Support role for a long time. Maybe this is where I need to finally make the decision to concentrate on that. Because Nicholas has a point – I’ve done a lot of little things and got the Skills to prove it, but even if I have a few Master-level Skills, I don’t feel like I’m an expert in anything, really.

  “I want to aim for a Support role,” I say, forcing myself to be definite about it even as part of me mourns for what I might be giving up. “But I don’t want to give up my ability to defend myself or to fight if needed. It’s come in useful too many times.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting that you do,” Nicholas answers as if that should have been obvious. “It is necessary that you know how to fight in various situations because you may not always be allowed to have your Bonded with you or to fight on your behalf. Honour duels, for example. Or if you are separated from your Bonded, a particular danger when you do not have them in tattoos on your skin as I do. But you do not need to be a master of multiple types of weaponry for that. A single melee option is enough. Or, at most, a melee and a ranged discipline. Focussing will allow you to advance further within those domains while also advancing further in areas which would suit you better as a Support. From what I have seen of your fighting so far, I would agree that a Support role would fit you better, yes.

  “So, now that we have determined in which direction you wish to advance, we must establish how you wish to do so. Which weapons would you like to continue working on? Which magics do you wish to develop further? Are there any other Skills which you feel you are lacking? I showed you some of what my family can offer you; do any of those inspire a direction?”

  I consider his questions for a few moments, then shake my head, not in negation, but in a sense of feeling overwhelmed. After I absorbed the Inspect Item and Seal Skills this morning, we did indeed look at a few of the many Skills stored in that treasure room. But it doesn’t help much: I want all of them. It’s so hard to choose only a few which will be most useful. And I can’t even take any of the Class Skills right now since I don’t have any Skill points available yet.

  “I don’t know,” I answer Nicholas’ question with a hint of frustration. Abruptly, I miss the other world. There, I knew who I was and what I was doing. Here, I know only that I must act in the best way for myself and my Bound, but how to do so is unclear to me. It’s a new world for me and I’m tired of feeling lost in it. Perhaps that’s why I’ve been so snappy with Nicholas. It’s just me and my Bound against the whole world right now and I’m scared of doing something to jeopardise us even with the support of Nicholas’ House. Perhaps it’s because of the support from Nicholas’ House – I know that that support is conditional on me doing a good job as his heir. And perhaps there’s a part of me that’s testing how far he’ll let me push before he pushes back, wanting to know where my limits are. If so, it’s a very childish part of me and one that I need to control better for all of our sakes.

  Nicholas eyes me. Maybe he can read some of my thoughts on my face as he nods sharply and then steeples his fingers. He’s finished his lunch. At some point, so did I, though I only realise when I look down at my plate and see it’s empty.

  “That’s understandable,” he says finally. “You have not grown up with a good idea of what your Class would be when you reached your majority. You have not spent years working on your martial skills and your theoretical knowledge in magical areas in order to start at level zero with an advantage. The stone I gave you cannot be a true replacement for the knowledge that most noble heirs receive as part of their basic education.”

  “No,” I agree, full of relief that he seems to get it – and dismay that it sounds like I’m even further behind than I thought I might be. Though it does make complete sense for nobles to train their heirs as much as they can before they get their Class.

  “My suggestion, then, is that we spend time on the journey to the capital working out which of your weapons Skills you have most talent in and would be best to keep and starting to train you in them. At the same time, we can identify what type of Support role you would be best suited to, and this will give us direction to determine the Skills you need to round out your set.”

  “What if I don’t have enough space for the Skills? You said that those are limited.”

  Nicholas shrugs with his hand.

  “Then you use your Imprinting Skill to remove the ones you do not need entirely, either making a fragment or a whole Skill stone which can be added to the family’s legacy or sold. At the same time, we need to cover as much cultural awareness as we can so you do not accidentally offend the wrong nobles. Does that sound like a good plan?”

  I hesitate for a long moment. It feels like I’m on a precipice here – a choice of whether to trust Nicholas’ direction or not. Part of me fears that he’ll lead me wrong even as another part yearns to put down the burden of leadership, at least for a while. I take a deep breath and then nod. If I can’t trust Nicholas who has every reason to want to see me succeed, who can I trust?

  “It sounds good,” I agree.

  Nicholas smiles at me and looks like he’s about to speak, but a metallic flash draws my attention to the open door in time to see something swoop in. As it gets closer, I see that it’s some sort of bird, a bit larger than Sirocco is. My Bound, many of them finishing their own meals, watch the creature intently as it flies towards the table, only relaxing when it lands in front of Nicholas and ignores me completely. My eyes are drawn to an odd deformity around its leg. When I look closely, I recognise the odd shape as a creamy scroll of parchment.

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here