Arthur shakily stands up and begins to hug his family one by one, the last person he hugs is Oliver. "Im glad you're safe Oliver, I was afraid you wouldn't be able to get to the shelter in the state that you were in" Arthur says to Oliver.
At those words Loki jumps around and starts chirping. Being Olivers soulbound beast Oliver know that he's saying it was all because of him that Oliver was alive and well.
Deciding to give Loki some credit Oliver says "Its only because Loki woke me up that I was able to make it out of the house before it burnt down around me."
Arthur looks at Loki and bends down to scratch his head then says " You're lucky that Loki is the direct descendant of the Shadow Weasel King, otherwise he wouldn't be as intelligent as he is. My Shadow Weasel isn't even a direct descendant of the king. I don't know why but the king gave him to you as a birthday present saying that you were a good seedling and deserved to be nurtured."
The shadowmeres have had a non aggression pact for generations with the Shadow weasels. Even before there was a small city here, the shadowmeres had lived here for as long as the family could remember. The Shadow Weasel kings have always offered Shadow weasels to their family as soulbound beasts as a way to foster good relations. The Shadowmere family in return provided human goods to the Shadow Weasel tribe as well as protecting their territory from human beast hunters. In Shadow Glades it was illegal to kill or trap Shadow weasels, they could only give themselves willingly to become someones soulbound beast.
The family had similar pacts with the few other beast kings in the area, which is why such a large beast tide from the Blood Apes came as such a surprise to everyone.
"I need to go and contact the Shadow Weasel King again to find out why this happened. Albert I want you to head out and find out the situation outside and get a count on how many people we have lost. Maria I want you to head to the hospital and begin treating any wounded that has been brought there, I'll take Sophie with me so she doesn't have to see anything gruesome. Oliver you need to get some rest, head further into shelter and sleep for a few more hours. Right now in you're half drunk state you're no help to anyone." Arthur says.
Oliver wanted to protest but he knew that his father was right. His head was pounding so hard that he could barely think straight, and his body felt so sluggish that he knows that he will do more harm than good while trying to help. Oliver gives his mom and sister one more hug before he and Loki head deeper into the shelter to find a bed to sleep in.
Several hours later Oliver is shaken awake by his father. "Oliver quickly you must get up, the Fated sects people are here to collect the conscripts for their war against the Demon sect." Arthur says with some panic in his voice.
Hearing his fathers words Oliver instantly becomes wide awake and says "what does that have to do with me dad? I thought we had already decided on the conscripts awhile ago." Oliver says as he gets off the cot he'd been sleeping on.
Arthur grabs his arm and begins leading him towards the exit as he replies " That was before the beast tide. We had about fifty five citizens who were the age of eighteen and that includes you. Now we only have eighteen. We're supposed to provide the Fated Sect with twenty people at the age of eighteen who will join the sect. Since we're already short on people you will now have to join with the others. There's nothing I can do about this, i'v already talked to the people from Fated Sect and they're already going to fine us for not being able to provide the agreed upon amount of people. Im sorry son but there's nothing I can do, because of your party last night the whole town knows that you just turned eighteen. If I try to hide you the town will face to much retaliation from the sect. As you know we rely on Fated Sect for protection from the other sects, if I don't send you the sect may withdraw its protection and we'd be invaded by another sect sooner or later."
Hearing this Oliver begins to panic. Fated Sect is currently at war with Demon sect which is why they're conscripting so many people into joining the sect. The conscripts would pretty much be used as cannon fodder in the war, their chances of survival would be the lowest throughout the entire sect.
As Oliver begins to internally freak out Loki jumps onto his shoulder and begins to nuzzle his face while sending him reassurance through their soulbond. Loki is telling him that everything will be ok because he's the spawn of a beast king and that he will protect him no matter what. With Lokis reassurance Oliver begins to calm down. Its not that Oliver is a coward it's just that everything has happened so fast that hes had no time to process the situation. Joining the Fated Sect is also an opportunity, they have far more resources than his family and will be able to nurture him just as well if not better than his family. Of course he will have to earn merit to acquire those resources. Usually it's not easy to join the sect as an outsider, but war changes everything.
Having calmed down significantly and with a new fire in his eyes Oliver asks his father "Where are we going now father?" At this point they had already left the shelter and are heading in the direction of their manision.
"We're heading to the house so that you can acquire the family class. Its an Abnormal class and will be much better than any class that Fated Sect will offer an outsider of the sect. Our family has had this class stone for as long as the family can remember, if it wasn't for the classes strict requirements Fated Sect would have taken it from us long ago. To get the class not only do you need Shadowmere blood running through your veins but you also need to have the Shadow affinity." Arthur replies.
On the planet Atlas there are normal classes and abnormal classes. Normal classes have no requirements besides being eighteen to acquire. While abnormal classes usually have affinity requirements to acquire. Abnormal classes are typically better in their specializations than normal classes.
At birth you're checked for an affinity, not everyone has them and there are a wide range of affinitys you could possibly have. Having an affinity also enables you to learn spells or skills related to your affinity.
They finally reach the mansion which is half burnt down. Oliver and Arthur enter and Arthur leads him towards the basement. " The reason you've never heard about the family class before is because we didn't want you to feel forced to pick the family class when you turned eighteen. Me and your mother wanted you to feel as though you could pick whichever class you felt suited you best. But now since you will be joining the war we want you to have the class that will better assure us of your survival." Arthur explains. " I don't know what classes the Sect will offer you so it's better if you take this one." Arthur continues.
Having reached the basement they head to the back wall where Arthur pulls on a wall lantern which makes the wall slide to the side revealing a hidden room. In the center of the room is a tall stone about five feet tall which glows with a faint black light.
"Quickly son we don't have much time, drip a drop of your blood on the class stone and accept the class." Arthur says.
Oliver quickly pulls out one of his daggers and slices a small cut on his thumb drawing blood. He then smears the blood onto the class stone and then places his palm onto the stone. He feels a heat begin to creep into his hand and up his arm until the heat has infected his entire body. Then he gets the first system prompt he's received since he's gained the system it says "do you wish to acquire the Shadow Assassin class, yes/no" with a thought Oliver selects yes. Then he gets another system prompt which appears in front of him again "Congratulations you've become a Shadow Assassin, may your blade always strike true."
Oliver then begins to get a series of system prompts telling him that he's acquired several class skills.
"class skill acquired [shadow step]
"class skill acquired [assassins blade]
"class skill acquired [fleet footed]