Episode 4

“The Artist Class, Writer Sub-Class? That’s quite interesting! So, you like writing?”

“Yes,” Tamie blushed. “So, what are the specialties of the Writer Class?”

“Well, the Artist Class overall is a powerful class of the Zodiac Crafts. It is the only class that is divided into sub-branches, and it has a total of five of them that are known here in Rosenweld – the Painter, the Writer, the Singer, the Player (also known as the Actor), and the Builder. Each of these sub-classes serves the people pursuing them to learn the respective crafts and apply them in the Zodiac teachings – like if you choose the Painter Class, you learn how to draw pictures with your element power, then your Zen power afterwards (as Zen is the highest manifestation of one’s elemental power), and then gift life to those pictures, letting them aid you in battles and any other sorts of activities”.

“Wow! That’s amazing! So, what does the Writer Class do, then?”

“Good question! Writers have the same power – they learn to write using their element power and later the Zen power and their writings come to life!”

“No way… Writings that come to life? For real?”

Tamie’s eyes brightened with excitement – so, if she learned these crafts, she would be able to bring her characters to life?! That was a true paradise!

Maybe then… when I get enough power, I can summon Byakuya, my muse?

“The highest ranks of Writers, which are called the Demigods, can summon even their muses – the substances that help them write wonderful pieces… Well, as you are a writer yourself, you should understand the meaning of a muse better than me”.

“Thank you so much for your help, Erisa!”

“Hehe, that was nothing,” Erisa smiled. “Oh, before you go, let me tell you – for you to choose the Artist Class, was a really risky decision. Every Artist, as I said, does crafts that aid them in battle, and they make pieces of art with their elemental powers. As your element is the Air (since you are a Libra), you will need to train double as hard, because the Air creates items that are invisible just like it, and while it is also a great advantage against enemies, it is a great difficulty for the user too, for they must be already on a high level with their Air powers in order to create pieces well, without being able to see them. You understand, right? So the only good choices of sub-branches for Air masters are often the Singer and the Player, as the Painter and the Builder both create actual, material items – the paintings and the statues and buildings respectively, while the Singer and the Player rely completely on their talent. For Singers, Air is actually an advantageous element, as it greatly amplifies the radius of where their siren voice reaches. For Writers, Air is somewhat a difficult element – on the scroll, when you write letters, you won’t be able to see them, and if you make a spelling mistake, your summoning won’t work. So that might be a problem at the beginning”.

“Oh my, then I will need to train hard! Are there any Writers here? Maybe they could train me...”

“Unfortunately, our order has no Writers, and the Writers in general seldom belong to the Air element, for the reason I earlier mentioned”.

“Oh, that’s truly unfortunate...”

“But you can change the Class just now if you want, before you’ve started your training for serious”.

Tamie first widened eyes, wanting to accept this offer, but then she hesitated and fell into her thoughts.

If I refuse to become a Writer, I will never be able to actually see Byakuya for real, in this real world. I wish to see him so badly, now when I know it is possible… She clenched her fists. No, it is worth a try. After all, I am a writer since childhood. There is no way I can’t handle this.

So she raised her head and smiled:

“No, thanks, I think I’ll tackle this”.

“Well then, best of luck to you! Here’s an Artist scroll, made by our Builder Class specialist specifically for the Artist Class pursuers,” Erisa handed her one of those old cream-coloured scrolls that lay on the counter. “And here’s a writing brush. You should fuse your Air with it to write in the Zodiac style”.

“Thank you very much!”

Tamie took the items and put them in a bag attached to her waist.

That’s that. I am officially a Zodiac Mistress now!

Finally, her dream had come true… But she wouldn’t stop here. After all, she had an even more ambitious dream – to become the greatest Zodiac Mistress of all time.