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  Boy, Mathgar thought while clutching his bleeding side, that guy packs a wallop. As he backed up, he used Healing Spring, allowing him to recover from his wound. Now that he was full health, nothing held him back. Mathgar turned on Blade of Justice, and in tandem, used Shockwave, by slamming him foot to the floor. The familiar fissure appeared, surprising Fenril. This small chasm beneath the Urgrock's feet released white lightning, electrocuting and dealing massive damage to the creature. This attack left Mathgar out of mana, and vulnerable. Fenril stumbled out of the fissure, and roared out, arms raised, revealing a large gash wound that looked similar to the shape of the bloodstain on his cloak. Mathgar figured that he might have been lurking while he was in the abandoned study.

  "NOW YOU'VE MADE ME MAD, WITH THAT CHEAP TRICK OF YOURS!" Fenril continued to roar. "I will kill all of those stupid humans once I leave here!"

  Mathgar steeled himself, while zapping him with a quick snark. "IF....you get out of here....which you will not. EVER!" He let the new-found rage flow back into him, and his vision was ringed with a bright red aura. He felt the pull of gravity release on him, and he decided to go for broke; he charged at him, with his strongest punch.

  *BOOM*

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  "This would explain why I was able to beat Fenril in one punch," Mathgar recalled. He pretty much reduced the Urgrock nuisance down to a bloody pulp on the ground. It was quite sad, actually. Now that he had the chance to skim over his abilities, he noticed that he had thirteen skills, which was WAY too many for a classless character. But, then he looked closer. He had ten skills, and three FLOW skills. He assumed, since Flow was strictly a Humanus Prime stat, that there were in a separate tree. Even so, something didn't seem right.

  Mathgar picked up the loot that was dropped by the Urgrock miniboss. He had a pair of spiked gauntlets, some leather pauldrons, and the remaining pages of Frederick's enchanting/alchemical study. He put the pages in his inventory, and equipped both of the items, and felt the weight of it all. He tested out his punch speed by shadowboxing; it was slower, and Mathgar unequipped them. He would try to sell them, or get them scaled down to where they weren't so bulky, or he would just give them to his brother, who liked that kind of stuff. The pauldrons.....he liked. The shoulder pads almost melted into his back; he didn't even feel them.

  He looked around this room, after removing the disembodied heads, and burning them with a torch that he found in a sconce. He found a misplaced brick in the wall opposite of the entry door, and decided that "carpe diem" has not failed him yet, so he punched the wall, where the askew brick was. He could see the blast, and after the smoke cleared, he saw the new window.

  Well, isn't it my lucky day? Mathgar thought. He cleared the rubble from the room, and found a chest with a shining lock on it. Too easy. He put the 10 stat points into STR, and hammered away at the lock. The lock gave way, and the mechanism released with a satisfying "twing". Mathgar pulled the lid up, and saw the trove of treasure that was tucked away. He grinned. He closed the chest, and picked it up over his shoulder, after donning his cape, and strode off to finish his quest, with his special loot in hand.

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  Frederick was spinning his quill in his hand, anxious of Mathgar's return. He had told him that he needed his research back, but he failed to mention that there was over twenty pages of notes. He just wished that he had taken more caution in preparing those notes. He opened his desk drawer, seeing a picture that brought him to tears. He immediately closed the drawer, and looked up to the door, which swung open wide, to make room for a cloaked individual, and his large chest, which was hung over his shoulder. Frederick's smile dried the tears that were clouding his vision. "You made....it back, Mathgar. It had been three days.......I thought you had fallen prey to the caves' evils....."

  Mathgar rubbed his nose, and grinned innocently. "A small, damp cave can't keep me down, and besides, I found all of your papers, I think there were 25 pages, or something." He handed Frederick the scrolls. Then, he set the chest on the ground with a thud. "I have something else for you." He lifted the lid, and handed him a large scroll. "It holds some form of material on enchanting: something to do with Dragon's Emberstone, I think. As well as some minor alchemy scrolls."

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Frederick couldn't help but jump for joy. Not only did he have his personal savior back, but he also had more research material then he could possibly ask for. "Yes, this will do wonders for my research. I won't have to start from scratch now! Now, for your rewards, thank you again for bringing these to me."

  "And as for your bigger donation.....I will give you a class which should fit your special talents." Frederick straightened his glasses. "Choose which one best suits you."

  He gets to pick? "Very nice," Mathgar grinned.

  Mathgar contemplated these choices, which all seemed good, and had decided that Mage or Monk would benefit him the most, but he wasn't sure how the Philomath class would work. He took enough Latin (and Greek) in high school to know that Philomath was a Greek word, meaning "seeker of knowledge". He wasn't sure of the combat power of the class. But, doing weird things hasn't hindered him before (except when he practically broke his arms when he went free climbing in the spring last year).

  "I would like to become a Philomath." Mathgar said, finally.

  "Really?" Frederick quizzically asked. "I was sure that you would want to be a monk. But, this works even better than the other choice. I, myself, am a Philomath. I love to learn, and I love to be surrounded by knowledge. If this is your final choice, then you have a tough road ahead of you. The training for this class is difficult, and you will not had many benefits added to your physical combat ability."

  Mathgar brightly nodded. "I love to learn, too! I don't think this is a bad choice, and I am used to taking the harder route. It is more rewarding in the end. Yes, I want to become a Philomath."

  "I love your honesty, and your determination. Alright, let's make this official." His dusted off his hands, raised them in a tiered position near his mouth, and started chanting something he couldn't understand. Ancient runes started to appear, floating like bubbles in the air around the two of them. A deep blue magic seal appeared around them, and spun at an impossible speed. Then, once he stopped admiring/observing the magic, he returned his gaze to Frederick, who then opened his eyes (the runes even showing up on his pupils), and spoke in English again, but with more resolve.

  "I grant you the wisdom and knowledge of the philosopher-kings, teachers, and wise men of history's past. Their wealth of knowledge, as well as their desire to seek it, will become your goal, duty, and dream to achieve in life. It is my pleasure to bring new life to this young knowledge-seeker. Take the mantle of the Philomath with pride, Mathgar." He handed him a crown made of pure ethereal magic, its color shared by the magic surrounding it. Mathgar placed the crown onto his head.

  The world gained a shocking amount of clarity in a split second, the world in more detail than he could have ever seen. There was knowledge to be had everywhere; each individual crack of wood in the shelves of the library had its own life's story to share, every dust speck, a tale from its youth. The sudden rush of knowledge from every direction made him ecstatic, longing for more.

  The clarity soon faded, and the potent desire with it. The seal dissolved, and the runes disappeared. When everything returned to normal focus, he saw that Frederick was crying. He asked, his voice even more resonant than before, "What troubles you? Did I do something wrong?"

  "The ceremony was more beautiful than I remembered. I'm sorry, I am a bit of a soft-hearted man." He brought his hands to his eyes, rubbing the tears that were still flowing from his eyes. "Well, I suppose we can start learning now, but it is getting late. I will leave for tonight, and return in the morning. You have free reign of the library for the evening. Use its vast banks of knowledge to strengthen your mind, and with it, your desire to learn more. Well, good night!"

  Mathgar couldn't help himself. He dove into the nearest aisle, and started reading a book on animal anatomy. Frederick closed and locked the door of the library, and chuckled. "Another Humanus Prime in the world, I am glad. I am not alone anymore, Maria. I will teach him as much as I can, and I will see you again soon. I swear it." He flipped his robe, and strode off into the night, to return to his comfortable, yet lonely bed.

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