"Out of curiosity," I say as Drake and I step into the access ring for the local Crystal Dungeon, now that we've finished all of the nearby Dungeons. "What was the Class Trial for Knight like? What were the specifics for it?"

I've only researched the Class Trials for the ones I actually wanted, so I never really knew what he did other than needing to kill some monsters. He seemed to make it through alright, so I figured it wasn't too big of a deal. I did already know he didn't have to navigate around, but that and the monster thing was it.

"I had to kill ten monsters in under ten minutes," he answers. "They spawned one at a time."

"Ah," I say. "The Class Ascension Trial should be a little tougher, but I'm sure you'll breeze through it."

It will probably just be a more difficult version of that, without needing to go into different rooms. He'll be fine, I'm sure of it.

"Perhaps," he answers. "I will see you when we finish."

I place my hand on the access stone, and a menu appears in my vision.

What do you wish to do? Ascension Trial Crystal of Power

So it looks like it's not 'Class Ascension Trial', but 'Ascension Trial'. That makes sense if that's the option that also allows us to do Skill Ascension Trials. I didn't know I could still do the Crystal of Power trial even after obtaining one, that's interesting. I'm guessing it's more difficult than before, though, because it would be strange if someone could just go and get two of them for the same difficulty. I've never even heard of someone having obtained two before.

I select Ascension Trial, and the menu changes.

Which Class do you wish to Ascend? Treasure Hunter I

There's only one option here, but I suppose this is part of the verification that we do wish to undertake it, even if there's only one Class available at the time.

I select Treasure Hunter I, and another menu pops up.

Undertaking the Class Ascension Trial for Treasure Hunter I costs 200 Class Points. Undergo Decline

It's not just a notice, but we have to accept the cost?

I select Undergo.

If you fail, you will need to wait 6 months to attempt the Class Ascension again. Undergo Decline

Okay, this is getting a little excessive, but I guess they really want to make sure we want to undergo the Class Ascension Trial. The six-month waiting period is to allow us time to train up our abilities some more to allow us a greater chance of survival.

At least, if we don't fail because we died. The combat-based Classes are more likely for that, I don't think Rogue and Healer have a chance of dying.

I select Undergo again, and this time, it asks if I'm ready to go through the trial. I hit Yes, and then find myself in a stone room. The room itself is forty feet on each side, with two stone pillars ten feet into the room from each wall, or four total – one at each corner. Sconces set into each side of each pillar illuminate the room with their flames, providing the only light to see by.

A passage in the center of each wall leads away from here, their length unknown due to the light of the flames not reaching very far into them, creating V patterns within where the light does reach. I can sense treasure past each one, the sense just as strong no matter which direction I focus on.

In my vision is the challenge notice. I push down the hood of my cloak as I read the message, not needing to keep my face hidden inside of the Class Ascension Trial.

Navigate the labyrinth, remember where the real treasures are, then mark them on the floor of this main room. Mapping is disabled, and once the final marker is placed, changes will not be accepted.

There doesn't appear to be any way to 'mark them on the floor of this main room', so I assume that much like with the Class Trial, the method to do so will reveal itself later.

Memorizing locations is easy for me, due to my memory for locations, so I head into the northern path, carefully walking through. While there are no mentions of traps, there might be.

The tunnel seems to be twenty feet long, with a room identical to the starting room in it, save for the western wall, which has no entryway. I go north again, carefully navigating the labyrinth of identical tunnels and nearly-identical rooms until I reach the first treasure.

Just like in the Class Trial, the treasure is jewel the size of my fist, resembling the Crystal of Power, and it rests on an altar in the center of the room. Having found it, I backtrack to the arrival room.

Nothing has changed in here, so I walk into the eastern tunnel, beginning the navigation toward the second treasure. Once I find it, I return to the arrival room and head south.

This would be so much easier if every Class Ascension Trial for Treasure Hunter was identical, except it's not. There's a pool of them as far as I know, and even with this version of it, the setup for the labyrinth is different each time, to ensure that people don't just share the locations with others.

Not that it would matter too much, considering that we have to go to each treasure before the arrival room will switch to the next step, but it would make it easier for anyone who can't just memorize the Dungeon.

I reach the southern treasure, then return to the arrival room, before taking the western path to find the final treasure. Once I do, I return to the arrival room, having set off not a single trap, nor having coming across a single one.

Maybe next time, then?

From start to finish, finding all four crystals took me a total of half an hour. Drake is probably finished with his Class Ascension Trial already, I doubt they'd make him fight for thirty minutes, especially just for Tier II.

When I enter the arrival room once more, there's a stone grid on the ground containing a map of this Dungeon, showing all of the rooms and paths between them for this Dungeon. Sitting on each side, in the direction of the doors for this room, are four miniature crystals.

Confident in my memorization abilities, I pick up each miniature crystal and place them on the rooms for each treasure, starting with the north, then doing the east, then the south, then the west.

The moment I place the western crystal on its spot, all four of them glow, then a menu appears in my vision.

Congratulations! You have Ascended Treasure Hunter! You have been awarded the Class [Treasure Hunter II], the Skill [Map Icons], and a bonus 10 Class Points for the completion of this Class Ascension Trial.

That puts me at 37 CP, so I need another 163 CP to take on Healer, and will gain 50 CP from completing the Wind Crystal Trial. From what I remember, there aren't any Dungeons on the way to the Wind Shrine, so we'll have to get the last bit of it on the way to the coast.

I close the menu, and the map and the four markers disappear, a pillar rising up out of the ground. Most likely the access pillar for me to leave.

As there's no point to me remaining here, I pull up the hood of my cloak once more, then place my hand on the pillar, then confirm that I wish to leave. Immediately, I find myself outside, the sun on the horizon. Drake and I did come here after a day of doing Dungeons, so it doesn't surprise me.

Drake is sitting in the access ring, and when he looks at me, his face is full of confusion.

"What's wrong?" I ask as he stands.

"It won't give me the option to do a Class Ascension Trial," he tells me.

"Really?" I ask.

"Really."

There he goes again, not explaining anything, just directly answering the explicit question.

"Drake," I say. "What's in the menu when you touch the access stone?"

"Crystal of Power," he answers.

"And the first two spaces?"

"Blank," he answers. "How did you do yours?"

"By picking the option for Class Ascension Trial and going through that menu," I tell him. "You did remember to Level Knight once you had the CP for Level 25, right?"

The look of confusion on his face tells me all I need to know even before he opens his mouth.

"Remember to Level it?" He asks. "What do you mean?"

"Drake," I take a deep breath. "You have to manually Level your Classes. It doesn't apply the CP automatically."

"It doesn't?" His look of confusion grows more intense.

"No, Drake, it doesn't," it's so hard not to laugh at his obliviousness. "How would it know which Class you wanted to put the CP into? Or if you wanted to save it up for a Class Trial or Ascension Trial?"

"That, um, that's a good point," he mumbles. "How do I add them?"

"Pull up your Class Points menu," I tell him. "You'll be able to add them there. You can tell it how many Levels to increase a Class by, then once you confirm, it deducts the points and awards all of the stats, though you'll only get a notice about the stats."

"Okay," he focuses in his vision for about thirty seconds, then nods.

He places his hand on the access stone, then looks at me.

"I will go do my Class Ascension Trial now," he tells me. "The option is available."

"Good luck," I tell him, then he disappears. "Sheesh."

He managed to beat the trial for the Crystal of Power without a single Level. I'd thought he'd had a few already, since I did. That would have added several points to his stats, yet no, he didn't do that. Drake was still at base.

Unbelievable. I guess we really only need the one Tier for him to manage the trial for the Wind Crystal.

While waiting for Drake, I take a seat. His bonus from Initiate will make a decent difference. Is it possible for him to reach Adept while here? Or is he stuck as an Initiate forever? If not, how big of a bonus would he receive from reaching Adept? Would it apply retroactively?

About five minutes after Drake goes into the Crystal Dungeon for the trial, someone approaches me. I keep my head down to avoid making eye contact, but I do shift my hands a little, to bring them closer to my knives.

"Everything okay?" They ask. "Are you hurt?"

It's a woman, maybe old enough to be my mom, based on her voice, and it sounds full of concern. A glance over reveals that she wears a mage's robe, red with orange streaks through it, a split on each side from the hip down to the ankle. I don't lift my gaze higher than that, though, as doing so would require showing her my face.

"No," I answer. "Just waiting for my friend to finish advancing his Class. Thanks, though."

"You sound younger than someone I'd expect to have their face hidden," she comments.

"I have an unfortunate scar," I lie. "That draws attention. I prefer to hide it to avoid the stares."

"I see," she says. "Well, good luck with your friend. I'm sure he'll finish soon."

Drake reappears.

"He's done," I stand. "That only took you about five, six minutes."

Now that I'm standing, I can appraise her more. The orange marks stop at her waist, leaving it just red for her torso, her sleeves stretching down to her hands, her chest rather ample. I don't lift my head to look at her face, but from what of it I can see, she's probably rather pretty.

For a woman. I'm not really into them, and I can't really differentiate between the beautiful and the average. Heck, I have that problem with guys who aren't around my age, too. There's just no interest there.

"There's a fifteen-minute time limit on Knight II," Drake tells me. "But the monsters were easy to kill."

When you have 23 Strength, I'm sure the monsters would be.

"Let's return to the inn," I tell him. "We'll set off in the morning."

"Okay," Drake responds, the flick of his tail telling me his mind is on us doing something else.

"Setting off in the morning?" The woman asks. "Mind if I ask where to? My party is heading out come morning as well."

"We're probably going in a different direction from you," I tell her. "We're heading to the Wind Crystal, to speak with the Wind Guardian regarding something."

"We are, too," she tells me. "We have a Crystal of Power we want to charge."

"Oh?" I ask. "How big is your party? What are your Tier counts? How many of the trials for the Elemental Crystals have you already completed?"

"Fifteen," she answers. "We each have at least two Tier III Classes and a third, Tier II Class. It will be our first, and the only one we want."

"Your accent," I say. "Places you as from Hovering Heights, yes?"

While it's been years since I last heard the accent, I still remember it. I pick up accents as easily as I pick up languages, and they just don't leave my memory.

"Hovering Heights?" Drake asks.

"Yes," she turns to face him, and the slight gasp she makes tells me she only now noticed the scales and reptilian tail, but also that she's heard about him already. "It's in the mountains to the north. It's a remote region, not affiliated with the kingdom. We govern ourselves, though we do make trade with this kingdom."

"Did your Crystal of Power lose its charge?" I ask.

Hovering Heights is part-natural, part-artificial. It's a series of islands floating at the mountains, some of which are supported by a Crystal of Power, in addition to the ones floating on their own. If the Crystal of Power lost its wind charge, then half of their islands would drop, which would be quite the cataclysmic problem.

"No," she turns back to face me. "I don't believe it will lose its charge anytime soon, there are no signs of failure in it. However, the wind has become much thinner and more difficult to breathe lately. We're hoping we can use another wind-charged Crystal of Power to make up for that, as it's affecting our elderly and weak."

I see. Drake mentioned that some of the effects of the world dying are the air going stale, still, and toxic to breathe. It appears areas high up are already starting to be affected by this even if it's not that noticeable down here.

"Drake, no," I say as I realize he's about to tell her about our quest. "Don't say it."

"But-" he begins to protest.

"She doesn't need to know," I tell him. "Anyway, ma'am, I should let you know, but the Wind Guardian isn't allowing anyone to undertake the trial at the moment."

"She isn't?" She asks. "This is the first I've heard of it. What are you going there for, then?"

"She is my cousin," I inform her. "I am going there to visit her."

Well, my second cousin. She is Granny's younger brother's granddaughter. Not many people realize she's related to my family, though, because Granny and my great-uncle were separated as children.

"I see," she says. "Well, we've come this far. Perhaps the guardian will understand that without a wind-charged Crystal of Power, our home may become toxic to breathe."

"I doubt it," I tell her.

"Well, we're still going to go anyway," her tone tells me she thinks I'm trying to drive her off for shady reasons, but she'll find out I'm being honest when we arrive. "We'll be at the west gate at nine if you want to travel with us."

I'd rather not, but chances are high we'll end up together anyway.

"We'll think about it," I state.

"Okay," she says, then places her hand on the access stone. "I'm going to Ascend my main Class to Tier IV now. Perhaps we'll see you in the morning."

She disappears a moment later, and Drake looks at me.

"If anyone asks why I'm keeping my face hidden," I state. "It's to hide an ugly scar. While people from Hovering Heights aren't likely to recognize me due to not seeing my brother, there's still always that chance."

"Okay," he says. "So back to the inn?"

His tone says he's horny.

"Back to the inn," I confirm.