I woke up feeling more alive than I ever had in my millennia as a brick. The air was fresh, the sun was shining through the windows, the crib was moving just right. Not too fast nor too slow, my nether regions were just a bit wet, everything was as it should...Wait.Nether regions are wet. That is NOT how it should be, "Waah, Waah" I cried, hoping that the old granny would relieve me of my distress. Sadly she must have gone to relieve her distress for she took a whole of three minutes to get here. Eventually, I was free of my disgrace and started my day by promptly going to sleep.

That was how my stat reveals day began. It was also sadly how it would end.

After about thirty minutes of sleep, I was once again woken and taken to another of the grand halls. About three minutes later I was standing in front of a circular stage that held a blue, pulsating crystal.

“Show stat screen; Aisenlaur marister,” My father said causing my status to appear before me

I then showed the screen to my father who said “A nine in wisdom…”-he seemed to be about to cry, but then pulled himself back up and said-“Well I suppose an extended stint in the library is in order, and some experience tours perhaps? "A commoner academy should give some wisdom..." He seemed to be mostly talking to himself, but that did nothing to prevent me from hearing what he had to say.

“He can hunt for his food!” a little girl, the same one who had called me out yesterday said, “That should give him all the wisdom he needs.”

“We haven’t fallen to such a level that we have to force a baby to hunt just because it has low wisdom,” Matilda said, appearing next to me, she was accompanied by about a half dozen(6) others.

“I agree, we need to work on the Wisdom stat though. An extended program should cover it.” A man I did not recognize said.

“I think this discussion requires that we first complete the reveal.” a golden-haired woman said

“Very well,” My father said, though he seemed off somehow

“Affinity reveal. Aconitum alobar” My father said causing the screen to stat screen to once again appear, further expanded

What followed was a speechless silence.

Eventually, Matilda said “So...we’ll need to work on that wisdom stat”

“And a special program is guaranteed…” the man concurred

“He’ll have to be homeschooled though, there is no…” the golden-haired woman said but was interrupted by my father who said,

“ Absolutely not! He’s going to the Malurian Institute of Magic and that is final!” My Father said

“Muarise, you must think of the family…”Matilda began

“Absolutely not, if you insist I’ll move out, but my child will not be homeschooled. The world has forgotten war, Speaker, it is time the Arlfords followed suit.” My Father once again interrupted

“Very well, but he will be put on the fast track,” the man said.

“Let’s go to the library,” My Father said, picking me up and walking towards the door

“So you agree.” The man said, his tone smug

“No, I just don't want to reply to such a stupid question” My Father replied and stepped out of the room.

Using his usual hyper-speed, Father got us to the library pretty fast, the fact that it was about thirty times the size of your average grand hall helped.

“Built-in freeform, the Library is a continuous curved structure that existed only due to space magic. It features 999 alcoves, each equipped with enough seating for thirty. A stream of clarity tea runs through the library, enabling its occupants the unique advantage of a constant supply. The unique cascading soft lighting touches the delicate balance between sufficient and too much light, thus creating a calm, peaceful atmosphere” Father said, his tone too methodical for it to be anything but rote memorization.

Forgoing more conversation, Father led me to the nearest empty alcove. There he summoned an assortment of books with titles like

‘A guide to the world of Algrea’

‘Magic and its uses’

‘What is common sense and how to cultivate it’

‘Cardrhaner’s Encyclopedia’

With a sigh of frustration, I got to work...Perhaps overcoming this hurdle shall have everyone recognize my greatness?

Then looking at the books piled up I thought, 'Maybe not..., Let's just finish this task first'