Cless was flippíng the book of classes for over half an hour already. One page per class. The Association clerk was almost asleep from boredom. The only reason he didn't kick Cless out of his office was the fact the girl was related to Karen and apprenticed to Balthus. She even asked for a pen and parchment to make her own notes. She didn't have only her own class to pick. She would pick the classes for all the nineteen boys that were going to be part of her guild. And to hell with their preferences. For the next thirteen years, they would become oiled gears in her personal engine of dungeon grinding. It was harsh but so was gang raping. Reap what you sow and all that stuff. Cless found out why she was so well with everything. She pushed away from the hard feelings. She escaped reality to live in a fantasy.

'I have to stop and sort my feelings,' She thought as she absentmindedly kept sifting through the classes and making notes.

What good were classes? They would give a stat point every level in a fixed pattern and a boost to the learning rate of some proficiencies but they only earned Experience Points from a smaller range of activities than the main level. Take the Warrior class for example. They would only gain Experience Points from things they defeated through combat and boost the martial gear category of proficiencies, weapons, shields, and armor. Warriors earned a point of Strength every odd level, a point of Vitality every other even level starting from level two and a point of Agility every other even level starting from level four. From level one they'd get nothing, Vitality, Strength, Agility, Strength, Vitality, Strength, Agility, Strength, and the pattern would repeat indefinitely. Despite the information being useful as Cless would have several warriors in her guild, to her it was personally useless.

All magical classes, on the other hand, would unlock the Magic stat and grant most of the progression to that stat. Usually on the odd levels just like Warriors dealt with Strength. The remaining points would be spread between Intelligence, Vitality and in a few cases, Agility. They boosted learning in their own category of spells and earned Experience Points only from activities related to the use of magic. Given her stat build, Cless should go for a magic class. That would mean remaining always physically weak. She hated that. Magic was not absolute as there were several ways to block or neutralize a mage's power. But it would be a waste of points to not have magic.

And that brought Cless to the last entries of the book, purposefully placed there to make the eager youth pick a class before they reached that section. Hybrid classes. The first thing Cless noticed was how good were the pages of that section. The borders were not yellowed and the fraying from constant page flipping from dozens of overeager teenagers.

"It feels almost like these last pages are here just to make the book complete, not to be used." She commented. The clerk only nodded in agreement.

They trade focus for versatility and were considered weaker overall. Adventurers never played solo and in a group, one's weakness was covered by another's strengths. The spellsword for example, combined might, and magic. That meant they'd earn only half the stats of an elementalist mage and half of a warrior. Worse yet, the more mixed they were less boosts to proficiencies advancement they'd get.

"Adventurer parties really shun mixed classes, miss Class," The clerk told her, getting her name wrong. "Their power is spread too thin to be of any real use in a party and their proficiencies are usually lacking because they have to train harder and split their training time. That is why we don't recommend hybrid classes"

"Yes, but they would shun mixing with Cless even if she didn't have a mixed class," She joked derogatorily, her former gloom returning.

She didn't buy it. Cless believed that God made sure to have balance in all things. It was a lack of people's perceptions that caused them to see one thing as better than others. Of course, given a context, one tool would be better than others. One would never hear a story of a successful lumberjack using a sledgehammer. Or a miner with a saw. With that in mind, what was the benefit of the hybrid classes?

She read dozens of entries in the hybrid section and found nothing. Something was missing. There was the stat progression for them, with warnings about how badly they compared with the pure classes and the proficiencies categories with a warning that they were reduced in efficiency. The warnings took too much space, Cless noticed. One page per class.

Something snapped in place inside her mind and she noticed. The experience entry was missing. It was probably pushed away because of the warnings. And because nobody cared about these hybrid classes.

"Do anyone at all take these hybrid classes? This part of the book is brand new!" Cless commented.

"Not in this town. I heard once some coworkers commenting that some aristocracy take these hybrid classes but they can afford to grind enough Experience Points to make them somehow useful. Not for the likes of us stuck in backwater branches anyway."

"Say, why are these class entries missing the experience bonuses?" Cless pointed out the two shown where the book was opened.

"They are quite obvious to figure out if you think about it. Spellswords for example, earn Experience Points from combat and magic use."

"Isn't that good? They stand to earn twice or more as much Experience Points as the others."

"The day only has twenty-four hours and that is true to everyone, miss. Even if it sounds as good, the reality is that people can't dedicate to everything and be any good."

Cless nodded. "I got it. And have you seen anyone that picked a hybrid class to regret their choice?"

"Every year. I've seen several come back here in defeat to reset their classes. They throw away a ton of Experience to begin from scratch with a better class. And by then they messed up their stat point allocation and usually end up as second-class adventurers."

"Is there a cost for changing classes?"

"Besides throwing away all your hard-earned experience? Just the price of having a new Association tag issued. Eighty solidi. Did you decide in your class?"

The price was expensive for a commoner, but Cless knew that even low-level adventurers could earn a silver a day.

"Almost. One last question, when one change classes, they lose only the Experience Points and the stat points from their levels, right?"

"Yes. Did you choose your class?"

Cless was aiming for the long term. And proficiencies were not linked to a class. It meant that she would keep any proficiency she gained during her tenure in the class. And if she didn't get any Experience, she would've lost nothing.

"I'll pick warrior, please."

"Miss Cless, I mean no offense," The clerk made an effort to get her name right this time, "But with your stats, you will be a terrible warrior. You won't have even the strength to lift a sword. But a warrior you'll be."

The clerk took a polished stone with a sword and board icon. Cless touched the stone.

Your class has changed. You are now a level 1 warrior.

"Yes. I know that. Can I choose my professions now?"

The clerk rolled his eyes. He took the class book and replaced it on the shelf next to the profession one.

"Sure. Next room, please."

Cless knew the clerk could do the professions as well. But she probably overstayed her welcome. She was not callous enough to torture the clerk any further.

"I want to be a warmaster and a weapon master. But I'll do that in the other booth."

The clerk raised an eyebrow. He beckoned Cless and opened another drawer. He took two stones, one with a sword and ax crossed and the other with a chess piece.

Your professions are now Warmaster level 1 and Weaponmaster level 1.

Professions had no stat progression. They earned a flat 10% of all Experience Points gained and only gave a boost to proficiencies. You could double down the profession to get that to 20% and this is what most people did. Warmaster was split between martial and leadership proficiencies and weapon master was laser-focused on weapons to the expense of everything else. Profession levels also stack with the proficiency value to enhance the effectiveness of that proficiency.

But the synergy between all these was immense. She would advance in weapon proficiency almost six times faster than before. After her training with Balthus was over, she'd return here to change them again.

The clerk was punching some information on a metal tag while Cless planned out her future. She heard someone call her name and she focused back on reality.

"Here is your Association membership card. When you want to update your levels, bring it here and we'll punch it again."

She took the tag from the clerk. It read "Cless - Warrior - Warmaster - Weaponmaster" the fields for levels were blank. The clerk gave her a twine string and she tied the tag around her neck.

"If you want you can hammer in your level, but as these lower levels improve fast, people usually wait until level ten for punching them. But don't lie about your level, please. It is heavily frowned upon."

Cless nodded. She considered asking the clerk to punch her level but she didn't want to make more of a fuss than what she'd already done. "Thank you for your time."

The clerk waved her off and she went to meet Karen and Balthus sharing some mugs of dark ale.

"Hey, Cless. Finished that soon?" Balthus joked. Cless noticed the sunlight entering the building and was amazed at how long she spent in there.

"Come over here, girl." Karen's voice was a little slurry. A first for Cless. "You are old enough to drink and you should start to learn how to hold your liquor." Yup, her aunt was drunk.

She was about to sit down when the barmaid of the Association put slammed a mug of dark ale in front of her. The woman swiped the six-ish empty mugs on the table and left. The same ale that got her aunt drunk. Cless stared at the mug and decided that she could trust these two people to care for her if she... when she eventually passed out. Cless scratched out the eventually. She doubted she'd finish that mug. She took it and took a big swig. Rookie mistake. The alcohol burned her throat and floated up to her head immediately.

"What Class did you get, Cless? He, he. What is Cless' Class?" Balthus asked with a smug grin.

Cless sighed. They were expecting a mage class, weren't they? She took the identification tag from her neck, looked at the tag and at the mug. She chugged the ale and tossed the tag to Balthus at the same time.

"Warrior..." Balthus mumbled and then went full overdrive when he read the rest. "What the fuck is this? Some kind of joke from the association?"

Karen snatched the tag. "Cless, why did you do this?"

She was tipsy and reaching drunkness levels fast. Cless was aiming at passing out and avoiding the troublesome talk.

"To make the most of Master Balthus' training. I'll get proficiency faster this way." Her tongue felt like hard leather. She put it out and softly chewed it. What a strange feeling. Maybe more ale would solve that.

Balthus was not amused. "But you also need the training to develop the reflexes required to make the most of the proficiencies. There is no shortcut," He chided her.

"Yes, master. Trust me I know that. Please hammer the reflexes into the head of this stupid ugly apprentice of yours!" Her mouth felt funny. She felt like stretching her lips for a change. "But when I finally get it through my thick skull, the proficiencies will be higher than without."

"That makes se..." She passed out while Karen spoke.