Thump! Thump! The dull sound of impact spread through the courtyard. Edra was sweating like a pig on a roast, together with a bunch of other men and women taking the Warrior quest. The sun was baking and the sweat was strong. The Warrior’s guild was located on the east entrance of Loktath it had a large courtyard for exercising, with a lot of wooden poles for training. Each recruit beat the pole either with a long stick or a wooden sword. One of the instructors would walk around and slap the recruits with a cane when they lost their form. The people with the wooden swords were training to become squires, whereas the people with the wooden poles were training to become warriors, Edra was desperately exercising his wiry body sweat and blood dripping down from his hands, the salt in his eyes making his concentration falter, only to be slapped back into form by a cane.

One week had passed since he had accepted the quest. Instructor Lüdwig was a tall elderly man with a grey ponytail a grey moustache and a bushy brow, he always wore worn leather pants with a white shirt tucked in and a brown leather vest, he spoke with a strange dialect Edra thought, it reminded him of Scottish. The first few days had been grueling, hitting the pole for hours on end, learning about anatomy and weak points, running every morning and evening and then to spar against each other and the instructors. At points he regretted his decision, but he couldn’t deny that the results were favorable, a solid meal every day and his relatively high vitality and +1 in endurance allowed his body to quickly lose its sickly look. And just the other day he had gained a +1 in strength and endurance. In his excitement Edra had asked one of the instructors how high you could increase your stats without levelling. The instructor simply explained that each attribute had different scales for how easy it was to level through hard work, for example strength and endurance could rise to 10 through training relatively quickly, but after that it began scaling significantly, and after 25 it was very hard to do. And Vitality was almost unheard of and was mostly freak accidents when it did increase without levelling. The instructor did praise Edra for having already gained Endurance, it was not a stat that was usual to see amongst the classless, as he explained it was good to have unlocked now as it would then increase during basic training. The entire conversation made Edra realise that maybe he had rushed into his class quest a bit too hastily, as he still not had looked up any information about attributes.

The noonday gong rang loudly instigating the recruits to hurry to lunch before the next lesson; it was a simple mess hall with long rows of wooden benches and tables, the recruits lined up in front of a big black pot where they picked up some chicken gruel and a white bun. There was very little banter in the mess hall as everyone was too tired.

“Which of the instructors do you think is the strongest?” a doe eyed girl asked whilst slurping her gruel.

A black haired middle aged man took a big bite of his bun “must be instructor Larsson, he has been training the squires for years, many of which have grown up famous in big cities such as Brün and Gjel, if only I was born a noble and could take the Squire class, I’d eventually become a famous knight and marry a beautiful noble!” His eyes dreamy and his words sweet as honey, it was contradicting sight considering his age and facial features.

“Peter I thought you had a wife and four daughters?” one of the trainees said with a laugh.

“Well a man can dream right!” Peter laughed awkwardly instantly sending the table into a raucous laughter, earning them all some strange stares from around the hall.

“I don’t know which instructor is the strongest, but I think that Lüdwig is the best instructor, his words are always on point and I learn much faster from him” Edra spoke after wiping up his last remnants of gruel with his bun.

This comment instantly sparked up the conversation again, eventually a raven haired girl spoke up, she was one of the squires, which meant that she was a noble, usually the squires sat with the squires and the warriors with the warriors, she was an outlier “Edra is right, I came specifically from Brün to get instructions from Lüdwig, anyone can pass the class quest, but the people who achieve basic spearmanship and swordsmanship is especially high from here, my uncle told me that Lüdwig was the reason and that he used to train beast-nobility in the north” Her eyes were sharp like her face, there was an intenseness there that didn’t belong to a woman in her late teens.

This was the first that Edra had heard of basic spear or swordsmanship, but judging by the reactions of the people around the table it seemed to be quite important, everyone was silent, they all knew that the raven haired girl Elisa was a noble based on her class quest, but they thought that she was just a minor noble of Loktath, and not from a big city like Brün.

The doe eyed girl looked even more doe eyed as she asked silently “Do you know royalty?” Edra was flabbergasted, and it seemed that Elisa was too, was this really the question to be asking at this time, but the consensus of the rest of the table seemed to agree with the doe eyed girl as they soon bombarded her with questions. Edra simply slipped out of the mess hall, he walked through the spacious corridors lined with paintings of warriors and epitaphs to live by, he soon reached the training hall and picked up a wooden pole and began his spear training again, silently and steadily he trained. Ever since the quest began he had been living in the guild’s dormitory for new recruits and he always trained harder than the rest, he had felt helpless and useless too many times, so he intended to achieve at least some strength. He had already worked up quite a sweat by the time lunch was over.

It was time to spar, there were no nobles or commoners during spars or training, everyone would line up against a random opponent and fight until one of them dropped, a local priest or nun would be present to heal any injuries, were any to occur.

Edra lined up facing a tall stout man with brutish features; they both got into a fighting stance together with everyone else.

“Begin!” one of the instructors yelled.

The man did not have much technique, but his height combined with his strength and weight made his swings maiming, Edra weaved in and out of range, unable to get a good thrust in, needless to say that Edra’s skill was rough too. With no winner in sight the big man began to grow agitated, he had been a recruit for a while now and was almost ready to finish his class quest, he was the slowest of his batch, and the remaining people who had joined with him had already graduated as warriors or squires. Edra noticed the man’s impatience, and prepared himself for an opening, after an especially wide swing Edra swayed out of range and moved his pole with frightening speed towards the abdomen of the tall man. A look of panic spread across his face, and all of a sudden his pole swung back dispersing its previous momentum and achieving a new speed and strength that had not been in the man’s swings beforehand. Out of reflex Edra unleased an invigorating roar sending the man flying.

“We have only one rule during spars at this guild” Lüdwig drummed his fingers against a wooden table, Edra and the tall man whose name was Bardo were sitting in Lüdwig’s office “One rule! Edra, what is the rule?” he questioned harshly.

Edra felt like a small child in front of the elderly instructor “No skills” he responded honestly.

“There is another rule that applies to this guild here in Loktath, can you tell me what it is Bardo?” The instructor’s eyes zoomed in on Bardo.

The man looked beaten as he soullessly responded “No bandits…” Edra turned his head with a lifted eyebrow.

“Yes, no bandits, am I correct in assuming that your current class is a bandit? And that the skill you used was power attack?” The timbre of his voice low, but that somehow made it more intense.

“Yes sir” Bardo got up from his chair slowly, a man defeated, he had been so close to changing his class, almost there, but not quite.

“Wait!” Edra stood up and grabbed Bardo’s arm, Bardo hadn’t tried anything underhanded, he had simply panicked while they had sparred, not to mention that Edra had seen him spar with the other recruits, and he was always friendly and helpful “Instructor Lüdwig, let’s hear him out, isn’t the fact that he is here proof enough that he wants to change? Tell us Bardo what did you do as a bandit? Be honest now, because I suspect that our instructor will know” his words were hurried and a bit crude, but they earned him a glance from Lüdwig who then nodded in approval.

As most people who end up in the banditry business, Bardo had a sad live, his parents had owned the very same farm that Edra had almost died at little more than a week ago. It had been a freak accident where lightning had struck a nearby tree, the embers from the tree had lit the farm on fire, Bardo had been thrown out of the window by his mother, who had then died in the flames with his dad. After that he had spent a long time as a farm-hand, but as a troubled young man he had taken to a life of stealing when he got older, when he turned 19 and could get his first main class he had accepted a class quest from a local bandit, as a young man who couldn’t afford to pay for any of the main classes, and a mind clouded by doubt and confusion he had accepted and completed it, because of his large frame he mostly just worked as a thug and bouncer at illegal gambling houses, he did this for a number of years accruing money in the process. One day he had heard the bandits talking about doing highway robbery, Bardo had simply followed along. The first time they robbed a wagon was the first time that he saw someone get killed, it was then that he realised just what sort of path he had ended up on, and it was not for him. He could not simply leave though, so he decided to become the unofficial cook and hunter for the robbers, avoiding the actual robbing part, with every vile tale that he heard the more frightened he became, and the more powerless he felt. But then one day not too long ago the bandits didn’t return, Bardo knew that one of the three leaders was on some sort of business deal so he didn’t take anything from the hideout and simply left, he didn’t go to town he didn’t investigate, he went directly to the warriors guild, intent on changing his fate.

Lüdwig had studied his face closely during the process, he had lived a long live, and he had been an instructor for large part of it, although people could still trick him, especially people well versed in subterfuge or lies such as nobles or tricksters, this man in front of him seemed like the honest type, like most criminals he had not intended to end up on the path that he did. The rapping of his fingers echoed through the room whilst he thought, eventually they stopped he leaned back in his cushioned chair “Alright Bardo you have earned yourself some leniency thanks to your fellow trainee, we have rules here however, so you cannot speak of this to anyone, this means both of you!” he leaned in close to the two men “do you understand?”

“Yes sir!” they responded in an instant, the intimidation real! Edra couldn’t help but wonder if a skill was involved. The two men got up to leave.

“Just a moment lads, who said you could leave?

Classic toilet cleaning duty, it was their punishment for using skills during practice, it didn’t matter who the aggressor was as they had both been at fault. The punishment last until they finished their class quest.

To Lüdwig’s surprise the two accepted the duty without any issues and fulfilled their duties every morning and evening with no complaints. For Bardo it was a relief to get to stay, he was even extremely grateful to Edra, he had had no reason to support him, this made Bardo want to get to know him better, and despite cleaning toilets he did; it might have not been the best location for making acquaintances, but he succeeded nonetheless.

Edra himself did not know why he had stood up for Bardo, maybe it was because his freedom was linked to Ben and Hilde’s actions during the ambush? Maybe it was just out of the good of his heart, regardless, he had helped him out. Having cleaned toilets for a week’s time now had let to him enjoying the company of the brutish looking Bardo, the man was surprisingly soft spoken and friendly, he had proven himself to be a good friend; something Edra had none of at the moment. Ben and Hilde were good friends too of course, but the fact of the matter was that they were not there now, and everyone can get lonely.

. . . .

A month had passed since he had received clean up duties, and he was ready for his final exam. He had grown quite well since the beginning of the quest.

Basic Information

Race: Human Class: Classless 0/0

Age: 23 Subclass: Locked

Level: - Exp to next: -

Active Title Set as

None

Attributes

Health: 25/25

Mana: 5/5

Stamina: 25/25

Vitality: 10

Endurance:5

Intelligence: 5

Magic: 5

Willpower: 10

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 2

Soul power: 50

Resistance

Heat: 5%

Soul: 35%

Void: 50%

Death: 10%

Necromancy: 10%

Chronomancy: 10%

Navigation Bar

[Journal] [Titles] [Skills]

Active Blessings

None

Active Skills

Passive Skills

Invigorating Roar 3/10

Communes with Dragons

Basic Spearmanship 1/20

He had gained the passive skill basic spearmanship, it increased his speed with the spear by 1% and damage with spears by 1%, he had also gained a large increase in his stamina from increasing his dexterity and endurance, and his vitality had increased slightly from his endurance stat too. One thing that had bothered him was that he couldn’t put any title as active, although it said that his one title was active in the title window; having consulted with one of the instructors he found that there was a difference, and that titles that can be active in the status screen, often times will have some special effect similar to a skill, and that only one could be active at a time and these titles could only be active in the status screen. He also found out that his invigorating roar hadn’t increased from practicing, he couldn’t be sure, but he began believing it could only advance in certain situations. The strange thing was that his +5 in reaction from his gloves didn’t show as an attribute, Lüdwig had told him that artificial stat increases from equipment wouldn’t activate hidden attributes, what that meant was that for example his titles that increased his attributes had activated that attribute, making it active and available for increase, and if he deactivated a title the attribute would still show, albeit it would appear as 0.

A lot of thoughts went through his mind as he walked briskly towards the outside courtyard, it was time for the final exam, passing it would finish the warrior’s quest, only half the trainees were ready to take it. Bardo had already passed his test the previous week. He had since then stayed at the local adventures guild to take up minor requests. He had made a deal to team up with Edra once he was done, then they’d go to Brün together, Edra couldn’t help but smile when thinking of his newfound friendship with Bardo.

Edra walked up next to Elisa and Peter, they had both made it for this final exam, the doe eyed girl whose name was Mary had not improved quite enough yet. Edra felt comradery with the two, but he didn’t know them all that well nor did he really consider himself their friend, more like a close acquaintance. While standing there next to them he came to the conclusion that he had become much more careful in creating new bonds, most likely because he had lost all his previous ones. Edra’s smile turned slightly crooked from the thought.

A light drizzle fell in Loktath making the visibility low, the warrior’s guild courtyard grounds were covered in tiles, now dark from the rain, and a good ten people stood in there silently awaiting one of the instructors. Some were just of age to participate in the Warrior’s exam, they mostly wore swords around their hips, there were many people in their 20-30 years range, they mostly wore spears, some looked nervous some confident, one thing was true for all of them and that was the excitement that was present in the mood surrounding the courtyard.

It was the squire instructor Larsson that walked up in the rain; Edra had never liked the man much as he treated the squires better than the rest of the trainees. Aside from his arrogance he was professional and kept things polite overall.

“Listen up!” The middle aged man stood in full chainmail armor looking like a crusader, it wasn’t the most expensive looking armor but it looked practical and worn from use, all of the trainees stood still instantly awaiting the next instructions “You have three days to go to the White Cliffs to the north from here, there you will gather the tails of three wolfs each, be careful” he let his words sink in before he continued “I know that for some of you it will be easier as you have already levelled up different classes, but regardless you will each team up in a party of three, you can go now!” The last part of the sentence was spoken with candor and it spread a feeling of strength through the participants. There were two teams of three and one of four. Edra, Elisa and Peter were in one team.

Aside from speaking in the mess hall during breaks and the occasional chatter they really didn’t know much about one another, so they simply walked along in silence following the map they had been given. The path towards the white cliffs was unmarked, each team would have to individually choose a path, from the map it was obvious that there were forest and cliff in-between them, the best scenario would be to use one day to get there, one day to get the wolves and then one day back.

The recent rain had done well for the nature, the grass was lush and long, green and sturdy and the outdoor smell was refreshing ‘some things don’t change’ Edra thought as he looked around in the drizzle and saw wet trees and misty grass.

It took a while to find a natural cavern to hide in, the drizzle had gradually turned into a rainstorm, they were wet, their gear was wet and they had no fire. The cavern was murky and smelled slightly; perhaps a bear had used it for wintertime? They went to the back of the cavern and undressed, sleeping in wet clothes would only end up giving them conditions.

Edra sat in his underwear warming himself with his arms, his increased strength, stamina and vitality helped him get warm soon, he noticed that Peter had gotten warm almost instantly, and that Elisa was still shaking a little but getting there.

“Do you have a class already peter?” Elisa asked while she warmed her skin up with her hands.

Peter turned to Elisa, it was difficult to see if he was looking at her or not, the cave was now almost completely dark, it was like an isolated space with the rain covering up all other sounds than the constant splashing.

Peter coughed lightly slightly embarrassed, happy that they couldn’t see him, not only was he older, he also had levels and he still couldn’t beat either of them in combat “yes…” he said in a defeated voice “It’s nothing fancy though, I have hunter as my class currently, my job class is only at lvl 2 and my level at 3” his voice almost trailed off completely at the last part, then the Elisa and Edra heard him take a deep breath “I was really no good at hunting, aiming at anything just doesn’t work for me! So as soon as I saved up enough money I decided to come here, and afterwards I’ll try my chance at becoming a guard somewhere, maybe you can hire me Elisa, you’re a noble right?” he laughed.

What Elisa thought about the suggestion, or what her facial expression was at that moment was unclear, but her answer came as a surprise to both of them “Sure” she was always very serious and straight to the point, most of the trainees thought that she was too prideful, she spoke very little and for that reason most of the people thought her arrogant.

The answer, her reaction to the seemingly joke question, Edra couldn’t help but think that there was more to it than just so “how is Brün like?” Edra asked curiously, it was his and Bardo’s plan to go there when he had become a warrior too.

Silence filled the cavern for a while before she spoke with a tired voice “as a city it is lively, the people are similar to the people in Loktath, but more private, the nobles there keeps to their traditions and rules which is different than here in Loktath where the nobles treats the citizens like their neighbors, in Brün they treat them like they are beneath them, not all nobles of course” she interjected at the end, a hint of optimism at that last word “Our clan and some of the other clans try to use our power to support and promote growth in the city for all the citizens, but it is an uphill battle…” her previous optimism lost once more.

Edra remembered a famous quote from his time “Power tends to corrupt, but absolute power corrupts absolutely” it came out as a whisper, a memory given words, it was not something he thought about too deeply, but it still stunned the two sitting together with him in the cave.

Elisa had a good impression of Peter, when he had asked to be a guard for her clan she had gladly agreed, she didn’t have many friends because she was somewhat awkward socially, but the friends that she did make she treasured. As far as Edra was concerned, she didn’t know anything about him, he had never spoken about his past or his motivations, he seemed friendly enough, but that was about all the impression she had of him. This sentence that he just said so casually however was not just profound; it could also be dangerous under the right circumstances! “Edra! It is okay for you to utter such words here, and with regular people, perhaps in Loktath it doesn’t matter, but if a noble or a powerful person had heard you, who knows, as you said yourself, power corrupts, that sentence alone challenges the people up high, imagine if it spread, the consequences are unknown, but you might be accused of rebelling!” her voice was serious and loud, it echoed through the cave for a while before Edra responded.

“Thank you Elisa, it was not something I had thought of, I will keep this in mind in the future” it was a strange response, albeit a right one, it sounded so genuine that Elisa wasn’t sure if he was trying to mock her or not, she honestly couldn’t tell in the dark. Edra was in fact very thankful for her advice, who knows if he had spoken similar words when he came to Brün, then his short live would just be cut a bit shorter! The conversation then turned to Peter’s new guard job, and soon they all lied down and fell asleep.

Blood flew in a fountain as Edra was hit by the paw of a big bear, its claws had ripped deeply into his arms and would have killed him, had he not barely woken up at the nasty breath of the bear and blocked the swipe just in time. He slammed into the rock wall with a sickening crash sound of of skin and bones meeting jutted rocks, he fell to the ground right afterwards, unmoving. The sound had woken up both Elisa and Peter, who were quick to roll over to their weapons and arm themselves, they stood in defensive postures glancing down at Edra. The entire scene of blood and death was contrasted by the birds singing and chirping right outside the cave, they could even see the grass glisten in the bright sunlight, but that sight might as well be on the moon, because in-between them there was a Boulder Bear, it was a type of bear that had fused with the natural energies of the earth over time and grown tumors made of rock, making the bear look like a boulder when it slept, it was only now they realised that the bear had properly been in the cave all night!

“This type of bear isn’t supposed to live in such a peaceful area!” Peter whined with a scared voice, his hands shaking his spear in fear.

Elisa looked over at Peter, she pitied him that he could not control his fear, was she scared herself? Of course she was! But letting her fear control her instead of her controlling it,would be a shortcut to a short-lived live “Calm down Peter, lower your voice or you’ll only agitate it more” she spoke with her calmest and most steady voice “We intruded on its territory, if you can just go grab our stuff and Edra, then maybe we can circle our way out, okay?”.

Her words calmed down Peter who backed up and grabbed everything, Edra was slung over his shoulder, their stuff was collected in one of their leather backpacks, and Edra’s spear was used to keep Edra steady on his shoulder.

The bear was observing them calmly, it had woken up to the snoring of those pesky humans, the first one was dealt with fairly easily, but before it could attack the rest they had drawn their weapons at it. The bear was not dumb, it had seen men hunt its family before; it knew that they could not be underestimated and for this reason alone it acted warily. It smelled the fear on both of them instantly though, but it could only see it on the tall one, the girl was impossible to read, was she fearful of it? Or fearful of what happened to her comrade?

The humans started moving slowly to the right, the bear observed them with a constant sneer and growl, it knew that they tried to get out, but would it let them? Men had killed its family, but it did not hold a grudge, all animals lived and grew, yes, grew! Killing could make the bear stronger, it knew it, but killing men with weapons almost always improved its strength. The Bear observed them beginning to circle around it, what was it waiting for? they were pretty much naked! Their soft tender skin, its claws would pierce right through them as it had the first one.

Elisa and Peter were circling the bear slowly, they couldn’t believe that their plan was working so easily, the bear was simply looking at them while sneering and growling. No more than a momentary lapse of concentration on Elisa’s part where she glanced to her side towards the entrance, and the bear moved! Faster than they could comprehend, faster than they could react to, its maw full of rocky teeth and its breath and spit landing on Elisa’s face. Who would’ve known that she, Elisa Greerholm would die in such an insignificant manner?

The echo rumbled through the cave powerfully! It was the roar of a man taking his last stand on the battlefield, of a mountain-climber who finally reached the peak. It was Edra’s invigorating roar, like an invisible force it pushed the boulder bear into the opposite cavern wall making the cave tremor at the impact. Elisa and Peter felt the invisible force bringing newfound power into their legs and arms and they instantly ran out of the cave at the highest speed they could muster, they knew that they were no match for the boulder bear, its speed just now proved it. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, they didn’t look back, but they could hear the sound of the bear stomping it feet in the ground, and then they heard it run after them.

Bright light blinded their eyes as they made it outside; they ran almost blindly into the forest, bushes and branches hitting them relentlessly as they dashed madly through the shrubbery. All of a sudden there was a clearing and in it the instructor stood, wearing the same crusader style outfit as the previous day, he just nodded at them, and then he flashed past them, inhumanly fast. They fell down at that moment and rolled along the ground. Elisa looked up and saw the instructor pierce his sword forward creating a fiery gale that slammed into the rushing boulder bear.

Edra woke up not long after, he had been bandaged, and some herb paste had been applied to his wounds, it smelled terrible. In front of him the instructor was standing, seemingly waiting for him to wake up.

“Your comrades have continued towards the White Cliffs, will you return to tend your wounds? Or will you go?” His voice was strangely neutral, not hinting at what his own thoughts were.

Sitting up Edra noticed a beautiful clearing in the middle of the forest; this tranquil area was only broken by a large line of burnt broken trees and a dead bear. If any thoughts of returning to tend his wounds had been on his mind they were not any longer ‘was that the power of classes and levels? Inhuman’ was the thought that struck his mind “I’ll continue!” he responded in a strained voice getting his soggy gear on, saluting the instructor “which direction?”

“Follow that small natural path over there and you will be at the white cliffs” The instructor’s voice noticeably warmer.

His wounds were acting up, but he ran along the small path, dodging branches and whatnot, eventually he broke out of it and saw a valley below him consisting of several white cliff walls and natural caverns, he could see some of the other recruits, but it took him a while to locate Elisa and Peter, they were walking along carefully, from his position he could see a small pack of wolfs coming towards them from the top of one of the cliffs. Edra hurried!

The wolves had come out of nowhere, but they defended well, compared to the boulder bear these wolves were simple, the issue was that they fought together and that they were organized, they were stuck in a stalemate, but it was obvious that the wolves had more stamina. The stalemate was broken as a roar sounded out from behind them, they felt the extra strength surge through their bodies, and they saw the wolves fall back, they immediately attacked, Edra following up too!

. . . .

Main Class Quest completed: Warrior

Edra Walker has succeeded in his training in the way of the warrior.

Reward: Main Class Warrior

Instructor Lüdwig had finished checking the wolf tails when they came back. After the quest was finished there wasn’t anything else happening, no fancy ceremony no nothing, it was all very normal, Edra noted somewhat disappointed. He parted ways with Elisa and Peter and went to meet up with Bardo at the Barman’s Bevy Inn.