"Morning, Daniel!" I cheerfully greet my boss as I enter the tavern our mercenary guild is based out of.

It's a rather cozy place, with only a handful of tables, benches around them, then the bar in front of the back wall. There's a door on the right side of the bar leading back into the kitchen and storage area, and a set of stairs on the right leading up to the rooms that can be rented.

While we're mercenaries, we aren't the kind that can be hired to attack people, though that's not really an issue around here. We might be hired to bring in criminals, but those jobs are pretty rare here, too. For the most part, we seek out reagents or supplies from the Dungeons and forest around our valley, and sometimes, we even go fishing.

Daniel, my boss, is in his sixties, and shows it a bit, too. While he's still fit and healthy thanks in part to his training, thanks in part to his Constitution stat, his age still shows a little with the greying of his brown hair and the lines in his face. However, I've seen him taken on large, wild boards single-handed and without any weapons and still fell them in just a couple of strikes.

He might be old, but he's rather good at the job, and I doubt he'll be retiring from this anytime soon. He kind of reminds me of my grandpa, but if my grandpa had become an adventurer rather than a baker.

"Morning, Nate," Daniel chuckles. "You're up bright and early."

"Actually," I shoot him a grin. "I didn't go to bed."

A lie, but it's a setup for something else.

"You need your rest," he chides me. "Though I suppose it's only natural, considering what today is."

My nineteenth birthday, which means I'm officially old enough to undergo a Class Trial. Upon completing it, I'll be linked into the System with my very first Class, and taking on Classes is essential to any high-level adventures.

As a treasure hunter, that's pretty necessary for me. I'm not so worried about the Skill I'll obtain along the way, but that's another perk of the System. Anyone who takes on a Class or completes the Class Ascension Trial will obtain a Skill, a sort of spell that would normally take much more work.

People just aren't meant for casting spells. It's almost unheard of for anyone other than an adventurer to be able to because it's that difficult to learn them.

Another bonus to being linked into the System is that when monsters in Dungeons and Ruins fade away after being killed, they'll have a chance of depositing an item right into my Inventory, a sort of storage that everyone linked in has. An Inventory can be a huge boon when it comes to traveling or conquering larger Dungeons and Ruins and actually carrying supplies and rewards.

"Well," I tell Daniel. "If everyone didn't talk to me about how difficult the Class Trial was, I'd probably have managed to get a little bit of sleep. But hearing about how grueling and fatal it could be, it just made it difficult."

Daniel looks guilty at that, as does the only other employee of the adventuring guild I'm a part of. They're the only adventurers in this area other than me, both of them linked into the System. Daniel is a Knight and Guardian mix, while Cassidy went for a Knight and Healer mix.

Cassidy is somewhere in her mid to late forties, with only a few streaks of grey in her brown hair. She doesn't train as much as Daniel does, having decided to retire a little bit more than he did, and has a better head for money than Daniel does. It was her stories of adventurers when she was younger that caused the younger me to fall in love with the idea of treasure hunting.

They're both pretty powerful. Daniel retired here long before I was born, and Cassidy moved here at the same time I did, seven years ago. They're more than enough for the region we're in. I joined them a few years ago, going into the low-level Dungeons nearby. They're easy enough for someone without a Class to deal with, and there are new treasures or resources every time.

Most of them are things I can sell here in town for a little money. However, the better treasures can be found in the more dangerous Dungeons. I'm not really doing it for the money, though. Rather, I find it exciting to see what new treasures I'll find.

My goal is to one day explore Ruins that have never been explored before. Unlike Dungeons, Ruins don't replenish or have monsters that fade away when killed, leaving rewards in the Inventory of the slayer if they're connected to the System. However, they can have some of the rarest items ever to exist, things of which there is exactly one of, even.

I honestly don't know what it is, I just like finding treasure, just love locating artifacts. And now, finally, I'm able to connect into the System and begin my journey towards undertaking even more dangerous Dungeons. Once I've built up my Class Levels a bit.

Daniel and Cassidy know about that excitement of mine, so they've told me about how dangerous the Class Trial is, and how it might be the last thing I ever do. Watching them squirm is kind of fun, but the guilty looks on their faces tell me I should relieve them of their worries.

"Well," I say. "I'm off to go become an official adventurer, I just wanted to let you know I was up! Oh, and I know you two were making it sound a lot more dangerous than it actually is."

Before they can respond, I'm out the door and on my way through the small little town we live in, Silent Valley. I'm not sure who decided to name our town after our valley, but it doesn't really matter and is a rather accurate portrayal of the place. We're a small town in a valley, and it's rather quiet. There are no monster attacks, no bandits, and very little crime.

It doesn't take me long to exit the town, and I set off down the old dirt path leading to the Crystal Dungeon. We're lucky to have one near us, even if it sees pretty much no use. Other than taking on or advancing a Class, the only thing it's good for is obtaining a Crystal of Power, which generally requires a team of people with at least three Tiers to their primary Class.

The walk to the Crystal Dungeon takes me around thirty minutes, and when I arrive, I give an appraising look, as I always do.

Its entrance, like most Dungeons' entrances, consists of a ring of stones three feet in height, two along the outer curve, and one thick. There are twelve stones total, with three feet of space between each one, allowing entrance.

The ground within it consists of stones forming rings, all the way to the center, where a cylindrical stone three feet in height rests. All of these stones have glowing, violet runes on them. A violet crystal eighteen inches in height and four inches at its widest floats a few inches above each of the outer ring stones as well.

No one knows who created the Dungeons, the System, or any of this stuff. Even the records of the Ancients, who did their best to research the System and the Dungeons, revealed that they believed it to be impossible. Despite thousands of years passing since the disappearance of the Ancients, they are still regarded as the experts, too. No one's learned anything they didn't already know.

Stepping between the two stones bordering the path, I enter the entry platform and approach the activation stone, then place a hand upon it. Immediately, a menu appears in my vision.

What do you wish to do? Class Trial

There are three selection boxes, but only one option available. If I remember correctly, the other two are Class Ascension Trial, for advancing a Class, and Crystal of Power, for undergoing the trial to receive a Crystal of Power, and neither will show up until after I've been connected into the vision.

Mentally, I select the only option available to me, and that menu disappears, replaced by another.

What do you wish to do? Knight Guardian Rogue Healer Mage

Knights and Guardians are the warriors, and while they receive the same stat bonuses, when they receive Strength and Constitution is flipped. The former's Skills focus on offensive battles, while the latter's focus on defending oneself and others.

Rogue is split into separate groups, and which one I pick which determines the Skills I'll receive at the end of the trial. Thief, Ranger, and Treasure Hunter are the three Rogue variations, and they focus on escape and theft abilities, archery and tracking, and locating treasure, respectively. The reason they're lumped together is because their Stat increases occur identically, unlike with Knight and Guardian.

Healer is more linear, the only one which doesn't branch out or have an alternate. It focuses on healing and buffing others. That's useful to have in a party, though since I'll probably be traveling alone most of the time, I'm probably going to take it on once I can take on a second Class. Their starting Skill is a basic healing spell, for mending wounds such as cuts and bruises.

Finally, there's the Mage, which has five variations. Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, and Dark. The first four use its respective element. As for Dark Mages, they're mostly users of infliction-type Skills, such as poison, sleep, blinding, deafness, and so on. Much like with Rogues, their Stat increases occur identically, so they're lumped together as well.

The one I want is the Treasure Hunter variation of Rogue. Its Skills will prove quite useful for my future exploits, and unlike all other Classes, most of its Skills are Passive Skills, or Skills which are active either at all times or while in a Dungeon or Ruin.

With that in mind, I select Rogue, watching as the menu disappears and a new one appears.

Which Rogue variation do you wish to obtain? Thief Ranger Treasure Hunter

I pick the appropriate response, and that menu disappears, replaced by one asking to confirm my desire to undergo the Class Trial for Treasure Hunter. I do so, then the runes glow brighter for a few moments.

Then, I find myself in the first stage of the Treasure Hunter Class Trial, a stone room with an open entryway in the center of each wall, a message in my vision. The room itself is illuminated by light crystals fixed into lanterns, two on each wall. The halls are illuminated similarly, though they also turn not far down, preventing me from seeing too far. The lighting dim, but not enough to hinder sight.

After appraising my surroundings, I focus on the message in my vision.

There are four treasures located in here. Three are fake, one is real. Bring the real back to this room.

Yep, it's rather simple. There might be a few traps or something along the way, but otherwise, this should be easy hunting for me. Closing my eyes, I dismiss the message as I listen. There are no sounds coming from the halls, so if there are monsters down any of them, they're either silent or pretty far away.

Turning in a slow circle, I listen to my instincts. I'm already sensing treasure through one of the entryways, but I still want to be sure. After determining that my sense for treasure only alerts me to one of the halls, I make my way down it.

After several twists and turns, I come to another room, the same size as the previous. In the center of the room is a stone table, three feet on each side, with a circular stone pillar two feet in diameter at each corner of the table, with three feet of space between the table and the pillars.

Resting on the table itself is the treasure. It's a jewel the size of my fist, and it's clear like a diamond. I'm guessing the other three treasures are fake replicas of this.

Picking up the gem, I return back to the central chamber, where a pedestal has appeared in the center of the room. Since nothing happened when I arrive, I place the gem on the pedestal, and a message immediately appears in my vision.

Congratulations! You have become a Treasure Hunter! You have been awarded the Class [Treasure Hunter I], the Skill [Mapping], and a bonus 5 Class Points for the Completion of this Class Trial.

Daniel and Cassidy never mentioned it gives me Class Points right away, but I guess it makes sense. All Dungeons give Class Points based on the number of rooms it has, and this is just another Dungeon, even if a quite special type of one.

I pull up the Class menu, then apply Class Points to Treasure Hunter. It takes an amount of CP equal to the next Level of it, and each Class starts at Level 0. With 5 CP, I can bring Treasure Hunter up to Level 2, so I do.

+0.1 Agility +0.1 Strength

Those small boosts are part of why people generally need to work in a team of Tier 3 adventurers to handle a Crystal of Power attempt. Each Level gives +0.1 of a Stat times the Class's Tier number, and there is a limited amount of times someone can earn Class Points from a Dungeon. With costs for Leveling a Class increasing, it becomes more and more difficult to raise stats.

I think only Mana is different, and that it's +5 times the Tier number on the Levels that award it, but I'd have to check to know for sure.

Thankfully, being connected into the System doesn't make it impossible for me to continue training my body. It'll get more difficult as my stats increase, but I can still bring them up with hard work if I tried.

Now that I'm a Treasure Hunter, I place my hand on the pedestal, assuming that's how I leave. Sure enough, a menu appears in my vision.

Are you ready to leave? Yes No

I hit Yes, and the jewel glows for a few moments, then I find myself back in the entry ring outside.

While I knew the Class Trial was going to be rather easy, I didn't think it would be that easy. All I had to do was pick which of the four treasures was real and return it to the center room. I'm sure there was something that would happen if I brought the wrong one back, but still. That was easy.

Whatever the reason for that, it doesn't matter now, does it? Nope. Not one bit.

I'm about to turn around and head back to town when something in the sky catches my attention. Fire, streaking across the sky. A meteor? It's not that far away, and as I watch it, I realize that it's not a meteor.

It's a person, fire surrounding them as they fall, like a meteor would.