From the day Nickel first began learning to read and write, his parents had also begun teaching him everything he'd need to be an adventurer.
The first thing he practiced each day was elemental control.
Most mana had an elemental attunement, and everyone had the potential to be born with, or one day gain, an affinity for one or more elements. Fortunately for Nickel, his mother was incredibly elementally gifted, and Nickel had inherited that same gift, born with a strong affinity for all six basic elements
[Affinity]
[Fire: A-]
[Water: B-]
[Earth: B]
[Wind: B+]
[Light: A]
[Darkness: A]
This was the affinity tab in Nickel's status screen, produced by the Pathfinder System. It was also the only tab in Nickel's status.
The only other bits of information displayed were his name and his Pathfinder Rank. Even if no one else could see his status, the 1 at the top of it loomed rather largely to him.
But while Nickel had the affinities, what he didn't have was a large enough Mana Well to perform more than the simplest of spells. As a result, his training primarily consisted of improving his control of what he could do.
After an hour of elemental control came weapons training.
While most Pathfinders, those who stepped on the Path of Ascension, learned to wield one or two weapons, they also tended to be those who awakened, at the oldest, by fifteen. Nickel, turning sixteen today and still unawakened, took a different approach.
His parents had taught him the basics to wielding a variety of weapons, and both had assumed Nickel would choose one to focus on at some point.
They each secretly hoped it would be the one they preferred… his mother's beloved spearmanship, or his father's sword and shield. Against their expectations, Nickel chose to split his focus between several. The exact reason he gave, at the age of 8, was-
"If I'm only going to have a single Aspect, I need to find other ways to gain an advantage."
Now, nearly eight years later, Nickel had achieved at least a serviceable level of skill with several different weapons. Multiple types of swords, both single and dual daggers, the spear, and the greataxe. He certainly couldn't be said to be a master of any of them, but what sixteen year old could?
In the training ground, Nickel went through several exercises and forms, first with a longsword, then a short sword, followed by daggers, finishing with a spear.
—
Nickel dropped his training spear and collapsed to the floor of the yard, covered in sweat, and now, dirt. Kalvin would have something to say about that, but Nickel was too tired to care.
"NICKEL!" a clear, song-like voice cried out from the yard's entrance. Nickel barely had time to stand up before he was struck by a fast blur, knocked back to the ground. A loud sigh came from nearby.
"Give the boy some space Liz," Nickel heard from a laughing figure drawing closer, "it's only been a month."
That voice belonged to William Johnson, Nickel's adopted elder brother, and the leader of the D-rank party, The Wolf Pack. Six foot four, blonde, tan, and obviously muscular, he looked like the poster child for a Knightly order.
Will's parents had been members of the Coin Purse, the adventuring party Nickel's parents led. They passed away in an accident when Will was fourteen, and Will was adopted by Nickel's parents.
The fast moving blur that knocked Nickel back to the ground was Elizabeth, Will's wife and the brothers' childhood friend. She was only a few inches shorter than Will, with pitch-dark hair reaching the small of her back. A half-elf, Liz had the characteristics the elves were known for. Elongated canines, cat-like eyes, and long pointed ears.
Her mother was a full-blood elf, and the current leader of the Coin Purse, who took over after the disappearance of Nickel's parents.
Nickel's sister-in-law sat up beside him and hugged him to her side. Elizabeth had always been overly protective of Nickel, and continued to be, despite the fact that he was now a head taller than her. She turned away from Will, her face drawing into a pout.
"A month is too long. You and I both know this boy only thinks about training" Elizabeth put her hands on Nickel's shoulders and moved him to arms length, looking him over, before facing Will again."I mean, look at him," she looked back at Nickel, "When was the last time you had a hair cut?"
"Uh… a month ago…"
"See Liz, it's not that bad." Will started, then stopped, a look of alarm on his face. "Wait Nickel, a month?!"
Finally getting a good look at him, Will realized that not only was Nickel's hair a mess, it was also reaching a few inches past his shoulders. And it wasn't even to his shoulders when they'd left.
At that point, Elizabeth was glaring at Nickel, holding the sides of his face, trying to make him look her in the eye. And Nickel was doing his very best to look anywhere except Elizabeth. Will sighed again, a slight smile on his face, and attempted to extricate Nickel from his wife.
Successfully, sort of. Nickel was standing, at least, and Liz was only holding onto one of his arms.
"Let's go inside, and maybe Kalvin will be able to free you from Liz," Will headed towards the gate of the yard. Liz and Nickel trailed after him. They made their way back to the manor, Liz fussing over Nickel the whole way.
"You have to take better care of yourself…"
"...Will and I won't always be around, you know?"