As Ava opens the door to the garden, there is a light trace that starts at the door handle and then expands over the entire door and frame. It was a quick flash, then she opened the door. As she stepped through and closed the door behind her, I could see a whirlwind of all the flying Pixies, Fairies, and whatever else was there. With the door open, I could tell the wind chimes I heard were all the voices of the fairy folk. After the door is closed, the ringing voices die down and the wind calms. A bit of time passes, the door flashes then opens. Ava bids me through to stop on the other side.

She gives me instructions as I look around at her garden. “There is only one path, it circles back to this point.” It is well maintained with a low golf course quality grass between singular plants and shrubs spaced about fifteen feet apart. “You may travel in either direction. Take your time to notice everything that you see. I will stay back to watch how the garden reacts to you, and how you are affected by it.” She gestures with her hand to the path. I look each way and go right.

The path is a variety of densely packed crushed stones, varying between about two to three feet wide at different points. It is a clear day with mostly blue sky looking to be at or just past the middle of the day. It is different in that it is quiet. There are no birds, movements, or sounds that you would expect to hear. Realizing that, I turn back to look at Ava who is still standing by the door with Tianna in her hair.

I try to look closer into the foliage of the different plants, but from this distance, I cannot see if anyone or thing is hiding there. I would like to tell you of some wondrous sights or experiences, but it was uneventful. Yes, there were spectacular flowers and plants of sizes and colors. Some looked dangerous, while most did not. I felt like I was walking through a botanical garden, which I was. I guess I was just expecting something to happen.

Finding myself back where I started at the door, Ava is there behind me, to let me back through.

With the door shut behind us, I give Ava a questioning look as she passes me by. “This way please.” She continues to walk down the hall.

I pause by the door and turn to look because I can hear the wind picking up again on the other side. The chiming picks up as I see a silhouette hit against the other side of the windowpane and stop. Watching it, I see a little door that was blended into the multi-colored window, just below my eye level, open up and a head peeks out. Libelle goes wide eye as she is once again about two feet from my face. With a snap, fast as a blink, the little door slams shut and I hear a little ding, ding, ding, fade as she flies away.

Turning to follow Ava, she’s already gone ten feet or more. I quick-step to match her pace, but I keep about the same distance. We turn a corner to the right and we have come around to the side of the building. There is another door, this one more solid and no window.

“Same as before, but this time there will be different people and wildlife. There is an addition of a fence to protect yourself and everything here. Stay on the path no matter what happens, what you feel, or think. I’ll answer your questions when we return.” She opens the door and lets me go first.

I step right out onto the path and it is like I’m inside a large continuous garden arbor. It is a large arch again about fifteen feet wide and maybe ten feet tall. It is made of metal bars, maybe iron, but not rusting. As I am turning around inside of this, I see that it is as much to keep me inside, as it is to keep the wildlife out. Looking back and forth down this tunnel-like path, I look back to Ava, then choose to go right.

I hear a little whistle and the chiming melodies of the Fairies up behind and to my left. I see a good dozen or two hovering high, a few just close enough to touch the bars, if they wanted. Turning back, I take a few steps and “ARRRRGG!!” My heart skips a beat as I’m startled back.

“COME! FIGHT! ARRRRGG!!” As if the fantasy art could ever capture this Tribal Orc, he just scared the crap out of me. “ARRRRGG!!” Slightly taller than me, but massive like some crazed pro wrestler complete with bone, warpaint, tribal gear. “ARRRRG!!” He is in front of me on the right, just on the other side of the bars, taunting me.

As I hear the Fairies laughing behind me, my heart calms a bit. I watch this guy screaming at me, my legs are still weak and I’m sure my feet won’t move. I think he’s starting to get a smile on his face because he is starting to lose his intensity. “Arrrgg..gg…”

As he lets up, I see that he has no weapons and there is nothing in his hands. “No Fight? Talker?” He asks. “My Fathers Ruled. No Fear.” He is flexing a bit as he is showing me his native attire.

Summoning up some courage as my legs are still weak, I ask. “I have never seen anything like it. Is it authentic?”

He looks over to Ava who is still close to the door. “He asks if the skins are true.” She tells him.

“Yes.” He replies, standing a little prouder. “Skins from my Mother, Bones are Mine.” His hand over what I can only believe are trophies of his conquests hanging around his neck. As he turns and is leaving, I hear a bell ring out in the distance. A bell you would ring, not the sound of Fairies. “Lie! Lie!” He is yelling at the sound of the bell. Turning back to Ava, he points in the direction of the bell and Yells at her “Lie!”.

“Truth?” she asks “We test.” She says.

He grumbles a bit as he turns. I hear him as he’s walking “Arrrgg, funny pinkskin. Arrrgg…”

Looking back at Ava, she is smiling, waiting for me to continue.

“Would it make a difference to tell me?” I ask.

I stand waiting for a few moments until she relents.

“Someone thinks they know something about you already, the bell was for me. Please continue, questions when we are back inside.”

This is a much longer path than the first. I can see that as it straightens out. There are people out and about that turn and look at me as I pass. I feel more like they are the ones who have gone out to relax for the day at a forest preserve, and I am one of the attractions in a cage.

As the walk is becoming uneventful again, I feel myself angry. I notice that I have stopped and have been staring at someone sitting off, about a football field away. Sitting at a table, possibly reading or something. Some children who have been playing, run up to him, talk, then go back to playing. I can’t see who or what he is, but my anger drained when I saw the children.

After a few more minutes, he puts whatever he was doing down, stands, and starts walking towards me. At that moment I was sure I knew what the bars were for.

*****

Ava has come to stand beside me as I watch this little shit approach. His pace is even, but not the spring of youth. He stops about twenty feet away. “There was no doubt.” He calls out.

“I would think not, for you to approach.” A little hostility in her voice.

“It was not my race; it is my Class. He is a Priest.”

“Oh.” She says, a change in her tone.

Turning to me “Doug, this is Naxus. He is a Goblin. He believes that you are a Priest because he is a Sorcerer.” On cue, Naxus has one hand upholding a flame twice the size of his head.

The flame dies down and Ava asks me. “What do you think? Do you think you are a Priest?”

“Yes, yes,” I answer a little sarcastically. “Child of God.” Looking back to Naxus, then Ava. I notice the silence; they are not saying anything. “It is part of our religion,” I explain. “We are all children of God when we have faith to believe. I have never been ordained a Priest or anything.” They are smiling and being friendly, but I killed the mood. “No, I don’t think I’m a Priest.”

“Thank you for coming, Naxus, I hope you are enjoying your day.” Says Ava.

“Good to see you again, I hope it helped.” Turning with a wave, subtle wisps of fire trail from his hand as he displays the fire and his class.

Still a little mad about the encounter, I walk at a brisk pace through the course, not noting anything until I am once again standing at the door, waiting to be let back through. I hear the buzz of dragonfly wings and I turn to see Libelle watching me through the bars. Ava has been keeping her space again, still more than half a football field back.

Looking around, I see a rock by the door that could be used to sit on, so I do. Turning an eye back to Libelle who is still in about the same spot, hovering, I ask. “What do you think?” She shrugs her little shoulders.

Sitting on the rock, replaying the scene with Naxus, and the other little shits that I took care of, I am a little conflicted. Looking over at Ava, she reaches down by the ground, fingers spread wide and creates a seat for herself out of the ground. While looking at Ava, I notice out of the corner of my eye that Libelle is now on this side of the bars. The four of us are there in silence as I turn my face back to the ground, pondering my emotions, and my actions. Tianna is still in her hair.

“What did he mean by ‘It’s my Class?’” I ask no one in particular.

Ava responds. “While not exactly opposites, Classes can have tendencies to oppose particular other Classes. Priests and Sorcerers tend to conflict in their ideals, philosophies, and the paths they walk to fulfill their goals. Classes can also have racial preferences and biases. Each Class is unique and tends to have requirements specific to that Class. This is why I created these paths, to test in natural ways. The first path was a test of relative strengths and levels. Nature knows what is the predator and what is prey. I even have Gold-ranked hidden away there. You walk through with no reactions from anything, at any level. I am still contemplating what that means.”

Looking over to Libelle, I ask her the same question again. “What do you think?”

She looks at me and slowly shakes her head side to side, no. Looks to Ava. “Nothing, no threat. Might as well be grass or a rock.”

“But even grass could be considered prey for some,” Ava replies, then continues. “The second path I call a Path of Class. I use this for ranked individuals. As you’ve seen, different Classes react differently to each other. Different races and species react differently to different Classes. Although one instance does not make a conclusion. Many instances can create a picture that we can draw conclusions from.”

“You Doug, are nothing but contradictions.” She pauses, and then the smile. “It might have been better for you to just form up a party and go kill something ranked. Then, if you didn’t get killed or maimed, at least you would know your potential. From there you could choose a Class, gain experience, rank up as you are able.”

A few moments pass, Ava lost in her thoughts, continues as if she didn’t just stop talking. “Maybe that is what I will do. The goal today is potential for iron and a Class that you are suited for. I have some ‘gardening’ that needs to be done. I could have you take care of it and see what potential you receive. Yes, a plan. But first, what would be best for you?” Asking herself the question.

“Thinking of Classes that may be a good fit for your relative abilities, you will most likely be able to choose from any of the base Classes, then maybe able to select something more specialized there. Your strength is above normal and I would have assumed that you were ranked if I had not known. You could do well in Fighter and combat-type Classes. Because of your intelligence, a Duelist may be open to you. You do have high intelligence and there is a path forward in becoming a Mage type, but the subclasses will most likely be closed because you do not exhibit any type of mana manipulations. You do not read or write the script, so you would have to learn. Priest and subclasses are always an option, provided you align yourself with one of the Deities. Thieves and the like are never something I would suggest. Joining the Rangers is an option. A Paladin, if you can get a recommendation or have enough gold. Bard seems more like a job than a Class. Humans do have the most options and I don’t see anything limiting you at the moment. What can you see yourself as?”

I smile back at her. “A Mage is always a fantasy that you can only wish for. A Battle Mage throwing spells with one hand, wielding a flaming sword in the other. I could see that.” Tianna has come out of hiding and is giving me a look. Libelle is doing the same thing, in her own way. I already knew to expect Ava’s default smile.

“How do I pick a Class?” I ask Ava.

“We all have different experiences. In general, once you have potential and start gaining experience you will become aware of yourself and the available paths. This is why we discuss now, so you will have an idea of the path you would like to follow and the paths you want to avoid.” She answers.

“That didn’t help. Do you have any explanations for the clueless and inept?” I ask.

“Certainly.” She nods her head. “When I think about myself, I can dream or picture the life that flows through my body. I can see the possibilities of the paths I can grow into, and choose between them. Some see weights and measures. Others, it is more intuitive if they can have what they are wanting. Tianna has an interesting process. Tianna?”

Tianna folds her wings back out of the way so I can see her better. “For me it is colors and I know the depths of each one. There are many colors, but they are weak and translucent. I may choose a color to bring it forth. Then later as I gain strength, I may direct that strength into a color to make it more vivid.”

Tianna and Ave turn slightly to look at Libelle, she waits until I meet her gaze. “It is mana that I see, the potential. I draw on its strength and it becomes what I will.”

Turning back to Ava, as she speaks. “There are also many that cannot progress on their own. For them, we assist with the process. I am able, and almost every Guild will have a method to assist. When you are able, you should at least know that there is a choice or option available to you.”

“Follow me,” Ava says as the chair dissolves back into the ground. Walking not to the door, but across from it, there is a gate, blended into the bars that I didn’t see. She holds it open for me.