NOVEL WEB Chapter 14 - Change
Novaris. Decem. 895. AGC.
Knowing Rose wanted to be a Paladin of Sol, much like her savior, the caretakers of the orphanage encouraged her to strive for her dream. Unlike the other children of the orphanage whose dreams far out scaled their capabilities and were caringly encouraged to pursue other things. Rose’s dream was very achievable, and seeing her potential, dedication, and hardworking nature brought that dream within the grasp of the young lass.
So, the caretakers had reached out to the local Order of the Solari to see what requirements were needed to begin training and eventually be able to become a paladin. The caretakers found that there were multiple requirements. The first requirement to pass was for a candidate to be a certain age. For humans, that age was 12, which left Rose two years too young at the time. However, once the age requirement was met, the initiate would begin with personal training to get in shape for the actual training period once they turned 14. This individual training consisted of building the physical strength and endurance the initiate would need to succeed.
For many, a two-year period would seem like too much time for a task that could be accomplished in a year or less. Yet, this was the bar set by the order due to the high number of applicants they received. It was a way to weed out those without high motivation.
Ultimately, becoming a paladin and doing the work that came with the title was hard work and not for the faint of heart.
Learning and informing Rose of her waiting period was a challenge in itself, as the wild child was stubborn and wished to start immediately. Thankfully for them, Rose eventually accepted that the Solari would not budge and began her wait with ambitious determination.
On the other hand, the caretakers still wished to give her some sort of gift, so they attempted to find the paladin that had saved Rose. Sadly, their search had come too late, and they learned about the death of Rose’s savior. It seemed the woman had died a few years back when leading a raid against an Aberration Lord. At the very least, they had learned the paladin’s name - Thea Algin - and that she had been a B Ranker who had served faithfully until the very end.
Naturally, the caretakers hadn’t shared the news as they didn’t want it to possibly disillusion Rose from chasing her dream.
Novaris. Novem. 899. AGC
Jasmine wasn’t sure how to feel. She wanted to feel happy for her best friend but was also torn by the notion that they would be apart for longer. It felt like it was only yesterday when Rose had turned twelve and began her training to become a paladin.
At the time, Jasmine hadn’t concerned herself with the issue as she still had-had a few years to go. However, now that Rose was about to turn 14, the reality of it all began to hit her. And even though they would still be in the same city, not having her friend at arm's length would be so different.
Not that reality would have been any different if Rose was not going to go to the Solari since most kids left the orphanage at 14, with only a few deciding to stay longer. And knowing Rose, she would have probably found a job and board somewhere in the city until Jasmine herself could set out into the world.
At the very least, Jasmine could console herself in that Rose would be safe as she doubted much of anything could harm her when in the care of the Order of the Solari.
Even so, knowing that her friend was leaving the orphanage the following month still made her sad, and from what everyone said, that was a natural thing to feel. That feeling alone began to concern her as, during the past years, her muted emotions had been able to shine more, even if only bit by bit. And it wasn’t with things related to Rose either but emotions in general. This change especially stood out on her birthdays, where before, all she had felt was reluctance to fake happiness. Now, she somewhat looked forward to her birthdays.
Speaking of change, she had seemingly learned something new: not everyone could see in the dark as she could. To her, even during her younger years, it was as if she had a sixth sense guiding her in the darkness. She hadn’t noticed at first, as the change had been gradual, but ever since a couple of years back, her sixth sense in the darkness had slowly disappeared. Thankfully, as her ability had disappeared, she gradually became able to see better and better in the dark until recently, when she had turned twelve, and everything began appearing in shades of black and white.
Obviously, she had looked things up in the library, and everything pointed out that humans, at least the non-ranked ones, couldn’t see in the dark. And once again, like with her linguist ability, she had decided to stop bringing attention to it.
Jasmine had to admit that she felt like she was being pranked at this point. When she asked about her past, she was told she was born to human parents who lived in some unknown village. Then, the village was attacked, and who they believed was a family member dropped her off at the orphanage. The most annoying part was that the few times she had gotten frustrated and divulged her abilities, everyone shrugged it off as if it was natural that she could do all of these things.
What had scared her the most and the reason why she no longer attempted to divulge anything was that the day after she showed her powers, everyone just seemed to forget that she could do these things. It was made worse by the fact that even Rose was affected, which frustrated Jasmine even more as she couldn’t even have someone she could properly talk to.
Well, maybe she was glad she couldn’t tell Rose, as she didn’t want to involve the future paladin in any weird business that might distract her from her dreams. And speaking of Rose, Jasmine had to get back to planning her surprise goodbye party for next month.
Heck, all this talk about turning fourteen was even starting to get to her, and since she didn’t have any real dreams, she guessed it was about time to make her own plans for when she turned 14.
She was even thinking of becoming a Cleric of Sol so that she and Rose could go about eliminating evil together.
Novaris. Decem. 899. AGC
The day after her birthday, Rose felt a bit nervous. The years had passed remarkably fast, and it still felt unreal that she was actually leaving the orphanage. It felt like a chapter of her life had just passed in the blink of an eye.
And though she was indeed feeling nervous about leaving, the fact that she was a step closer to achieving her dream filled her with excitement. So, without delay, she left her shared bedroom and walked along with Jasmine to the guest room at the front of the orphanage.
She did feel a bit saddened by leaving behind her partner in crime of so many years, but she believed everything would be alright. After all, they had made so many plans in the last two months on how they would see each other all the time and the many places they would visit in the city.
That did not even include the plans for when Jasmine turned 14, and they could move about as freely as the wind.
So, with Jasmine in hand, she entered the guest room and was met by all the members of the orphanage, who gave her hugs and cheers of goodbye. Looking at all the new members of the family, she couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for all the friends that had left over the years as well.
Then, with a final wave of goodbye to the orphanage, Jasmine walked her to the compound of the Solari.
Honestly, it was all a bit silly, as she would probably visit every week.
In the world of Novaris, the age at which many were considered to have reached maturity varied based on multiple factors. The two most complicated factors involved are the type of sapient species being judged and the location where each species member spent the most time during their gestating period.
Even so, no matter what else, the final decider of a child’s fate depended entirely on another factor.
This factor is the different kingdoms, tribes, or city-states that make their own laws on the subject. This means that in the world of Novaris, it is crucial to learn if the next kingdom, tribe, or city-state you will visit will consider you an adult.
In regard to the Kingdom of Lezi, the age of maturity for most is 14, which means that at 14 years of age, most sapients can begin working in a variety of typical jobs like barmaids, stable hands, dockworkers, and farmhands. They can also become apprentices in order to learn about more in-depth jobs like smithing, alchemy, and carpentry.
Another change brought on by the set age of maturity can be seen in orphanages. When a child reaches maturity, more often than not, orphanages choose to abide by local laws. This meant some children are essentially on their own when their 14th birthday comes, as some orphanages will just send them out into the world.
However, not all orphanages are like this, and this practice is only seen when an orphanage gains one too many occupants. Even then, orphanages like those hosted by the churches often help their children into adulthood by giving them small stipends to assist them on their way to independence.
For the Free Spirit Orphanage, when a child in their care reaches maturity, the orphanage gives them a couple of choices. First, they can choose to leave right there and then. If they decide to go, the orphanage provides them with enough gold to rent a room at an inn for a month, including two meals a day. This choice is only forced upon people when the orphanage is at full capacity, which rarely happens.
The second choice is to stay at the orphanage for another year or two. During this time, they are expected to get a job and pay the orphanage a set amount of coin to help with any necessities. However, they will still be able to keep the large majority of their earnings. Naturally, this is the most popular option, and unless you are someone like Rose who has to stay at the compound of the Solari, you are encouraged to take it.
The final choice is the rarest and only happens when one of the caretakers decides to pursue other things or passes away. When this does happen, the oldest children are given the option to become a new caretaker and replace the previous one.
Now, seeing as Jasmine was about to turn 14, she had been mulling over whether she should leave as soon as possible or save more money over another year or so. However, the choice for her wasn’t much of a choice, as she wasn’t really going to go anywhere without Rose. And since Rose still had a few more years of training before she graduated from initiate to holy warrior, Jasmine naturally wanted to save as much as possible and would inevitably stay at the orphanage.
So, for Jasmine, her birthday was going to come and go like normal, except for one tiny little bit of change that she would assume was naught but yet another odd development brought by her new age.
And oh gods, was she going to be more right than ever.