“Good Morrow, young Andaros,” Percy greeted him as he arrived. “We have another new sojourner today. She's out doing her first tutorial now.”

“So, class skills,” Andaros asked.

“Yep,” Percy acknowledged. “Well, let's get you started on your next tutorial quest. Head down to Adolpho's, and turn right at the T,” he instructed, “along the road there are the crafting and social class tutors. Speak to each of them first, and then choose a crafting or social class. The more you talk to, the better your understanding when you choose your craft. Perhaps you will even find you have affinity for an unusual class. If you cannot find a class, it will not mean you have failed the quest, only that you did not find a fitting crafting class for you. The classes offered here are not the only crafting and social classes in our world, so if you cannot find one that fits for you, don't be too concerned. Even if you do not find such a class, you can still do their sub-quests, and gain some experience, and basic crafting skill to use. Not having a crafting class does not prevent you from crafting, although you will not have access to the unique skills, or item designs, of a particular craft without a corresponding class. First, speak to the crafting class master, he will organize your sub-quests, so you can try out each of the crafting classes, from there, you can visit the social class master, who will arrange for you to meet the representatives of each of the social classes.”

“Why do the crafting classes have trainers, but the social classes have representatives?”

“A good question, young Andaros,” Percy replied, “Ask the social class master, she will explain how social classes work, and the reason for that very important difference.”

“Is it something you can't tell me about?”

“No, nothing of the sort, but I would be a heel to take her job from her, and she is such a kind person that I do not wish to hurt her feelings,” Percy explained.

“Oh, okay, I'll be going then,” Andaros responded, and then walked away.

Heading back down toward the T intersection, Andaros first began to notice a big problem when he was half-way to it. He continued walking, but was incredulous as to the difference. Wasn't Adolpho's a two story building made of stone, with an impressive covered porch setup? That was what he had seen the day before, but as he approached, he found that there was no such building at the intersection, and instead a simple one story wooden building stood in it's place. On the front face of the building, above the single door sat letters made of darkly stained wood, stating the name of the place, Adolpho's. Just the day before, he had seen a completely different building here, much grander, the so-called posh perhaps, but today he saw a very simple, much smaller, and a bit worn building in it's place, as well as another smaller building that said “Post & Coach” on it.

Andaros walked up to Adolpho's in wonder of what had happened, entering in, he found nothing the same, it was a very simply place with simple items, one side was lined with armor on stands, and the other had shelves of potions and other goods below weapons hung on racks. At the back was a counter with a case inset into the top, where quite basic jewelry was held under a metal lattice that allowed one to see it, but not to touch. It was very different from the shop he had seen the night before, and at the counter stood a very bored looking young man who soon gave the young Andaros a suspicious look.

“What do you want,” the man asked, seeing him stare at him.

“Um, where's Adolpho,” Andaros asked, still not fully connecting the situation in his mind.

The man looked at him as if he were extremely strange, and said, “I'm Adolpho, the eighth by that name of my family.”

“What? What happened to the grand building with the grandiose covered porch? I thought Adolpho the 3rd was the owner,” Andaros spoke, voicing his doubts.

“Ah, I see,” the man said, “You've been a victim of the ghost shop,” the man stated, and his suspicions obviously reduced greatly, although remaining vigilant. “From time to time others like you will see the shop as it once was, long ago. They usually return later on hoping to buy the items they saw, but sadly we do not carry. The trading post was destroyed in an attack during the 3rd's lifetime, it's walls and pillars reduced to dust by the attack and the ravages of time. My great great grandfather managed to get away with some of the goods intact, but it wasn't until my father came back here that Adolpho's was rebuilt as it currently stands, a simple wooden shop.”

“I see,” Andaros said, wondering if he was just imagining things, if what he saw yesterday was all an illusion. He left the building, but then thought of the items he had bought, had everything been an illusion, or was it real? Opening his inventory, he checked, and found that the items he had bought remained, and his money had not returned, which eased his mind a bit. Whatever he had experienced had been real. He was reminded of the set catalyst, and wondered how to use it. The description said something about having a compatible crafting class, maybe one of the craftsmen would know how to use this item?

Andaros traveled along the side of the road, until he found an open air building which was pretty much just a wood shingled roof held up by numerous wooden poles. In one section of the building, several forges stood, and the shingles there were of slate. In this area, several men were hammering away at projects on the anvils they had there. One appeared to be making armor, another a sword, and yet another was creating what looked to be nails. Elsewhere, a Loom was being worked at, a plump woman running a string through, and then reversing which of the threads the thread was crossing were up, and which were down using the loom. In another place, a man was working with leather, creating something he wasn't sure of. In the center of this area, stood a man watching over the others.

Thinking this may be the crafting class master, Andaros headed over to him.

“Ho there, Boy! Might you be Andaros?” As he was approaching the man spoke to him loudly.

“Uh, yes, I'm Andaros,” he responded.

“Percy told me about you, he seems quite interested in you for some reason,” the man told him, “I'm Jurgen, the Crafts Master of this hamlet. Let's get you started on your crafting sub-quests. Is there any crafting class you're interested in?”

Andaros thought for a moment, then pulled out the little marble he bought the day before. “Is there a particular crafting class needed to apply this,” he asked the man.

“Ho, an [Item Set Catalyst], and it even has the binding affix. Interesting, you must have met him,” Jurgen muttered, “None of the people here can apply this beauty, but I'll tell you what, hand me the items you wish to create a set from, and I'll put it together while you're working through the sub-quests here.”

Andaros took out his Spirit-guns, the pair of psiber-swords, and then deactivated and took off his Psiber-armor, and held them out.

“Hmmm, this won't work out like this. This belt, and this one are not compatible, and the holsters and scabbards are affixed to the belts. It might work, but it's not the most optimal for an item set,” Jurgen informed him. “Hmmm, give me a moment,” the old man said, and went into the only enclose room in the whole area. After a few moments of patient waiting, the old man returned with a belt that had both holsters for the spirit-guns, and scabbards for the psiber-swords. “Put this on, and let's see if it will fit them,” he told Andaros.

Andaros placed the others on a nearby table, then put the belt the crafts master had brought out around his waist and buckled it, finding it fit him well, and the holsters and scabbards appeared to be in good spots. Andaros began to take the weapons out of the belts they were in, and placed them into their appropriate locations in the new belt. Remarkably, the weapons fit perfectly into the holsters and scabbards of the belt.

“Good, good, a good match for those items,” Jurgen said, “you can have that belt, and in exchange I'll take these two. Now, are you sure you don't want to add another item to the set? It can include up to five items, and as the two pairs of weapons are linked, you can use them as a single item. “

“Aren't the spirit-guns separate weapons?”

“Look again, boy, those are twin-linked weapons, they'll only count as one weapon for the set's purposes.”

“Um, can my beginner clothes be used as the fifth item?”

“Unfortunately, beginner clothes don't usually work,” the man said, looking his clothes over. “Nope, they're plain old beginner clothes. Hmmm, one moment.” Jurgen went back into the room, and Andaros could hear him rummaging through items in there. He soon returned, and placed five items on the table where Andaros's psiber-armor was still sitting. “Pick one, if the great creator is with you, perhaps you will find a blessing among these items I have laid out.”

Andaros looked over the items carefully. As he looked over them, a ring caught his eye. It was a very plain looking ring, but for some reason it drew his eye. Still, he looked over the other items, for some reason he had a feeling he wasn't supposed to get that item, yet it would be important to remember it was here, and somehow it would help someone close to him. Looking over the remaining items, he found a simple looking bandanna. Andaros would find it hard to wear a helmet with his caelestial-born features, so this seemed like a good option for the fifth item of the set. He picked up the item.

“You're sure? Nothing else draws your eye?”

“Well, if you ask that, I'll say the ring draws my eye, but it's not meant for me,” Andaros said, shaking his head, “That ring is meant for someone else, or at least that's the feeling I get. If I find them, and can manage to recognize them, I'll bring them here.”

“Aye, it's so picky,” the old man said, letting out a sigh. “... Forget it, if it's not meant for you, I can't force you to take it, or it to accept you. You're certain about this bandanna?”

“I can't wear a helmet with this antler crown, and I have a good feeling about it,” Andaros answered.

“Alright, that's fine,” Jurgen responded, “Saves me a bit of funds. Place the belt on the table with the weapons. I'll send you over to the seamstress, Teluna, first, do as she tells you to do, and you should get the crafting skill she teaches. When she's done with you, she'll send you on to the next person. Just keep going until you get through each of them, then come back to me. Actually, once you're done with everyone here, go over to the stalls over there, and talk to Amalia, she'll walk you through the social classes. Let's get you all the information you need, then figure out if you are ready to take a crafting or social class, or wish to work to find one elsewhere.”

“Alright,” Andaros responded, “I'll see you when I'm done, Crafts Master.”

-----

Jurgen nodded as Andaros began to walk off. He really liked this kid. He was humble, not acting in an obsequious, nor a haughty manner, but simply being as the creator made him, without being a jerk. “Now, let's see what you really are, little guy,” he said, addressing the marble. He activated his special identification skill, and his eyes grew wide for a moment, before a big grin appeared on his face. “Hmmm, but this is gonna cost me some... Ah forget it, the boy's worth the small sacrifice. Besides, I haven't had the pleasure of working with one of these in a long while. This is gonna be fun,” he said, cracking his knuckles. He picked up the items that were earmarked for the set that would be created, and then headed into his personal workshop, and began to rummage around his drawers. “Let's see, I think they were in here... No? Where could they be?” Jurgen kept rummaging around but was having a tough time finding what he needed. After a few hours of searching, he finally found them. These items would work quite well for this, who knew, maybe they'd cause a resonance, making that bandanna into something truly worthwhile for the kid.

Working swiftly, Jurgen began to arrange everything, and then took the items he had worked so hard to find, and began to work with them. Any spirit-crafter worth his salt would kill to get a hold of these things, and never let go of them, but Jurgen didn't mind the sacrifice. He'd been alive a long time, and although these things were prime materials in and of themselves, they would certainly be more useful for this than for some cockamamie scheme to extend his lifespan, he thought of this as a much better use for them. The greedy kids of today might try to keep hold of these goods, but Jurgen was raised in a generation where thinking of others was much more in the public consciousness than the current age, or even that of the last generation. He thought of it as an investment in the future of the veiled isle that might have lasting affects long into the future, a legacy so to speak. One could not cheat death, delay it perhaps, but never cheat it.

Jurgen worked tirelessly as he poured his heart and soul into his craft, figuratively speaking. Time passed in a flash, and it seemed to him as if only moments ago he began the process of dealing with the request the boy had brought his way. Well, the boy had only asked if he knew someone who could apply the affix, and Jurgen had taken it upon himself to do the task, seeing as these kids from the hamlet didn't have the necessary skill. He had even decided to go above and beyond that simple task simply because he had a good first impression of the boy. First impressions could never be underestimated.

“Hmmm, not bad,” Jurgen said. Looking at the final results, he couldn't help but grin, the boy was gonna love this. He had a good impression of him, he would certainly use this set to help with the problem in the queendom, and maybe help solve the problems in the other countries. Perhaps if things went well, the isle could be reunited once more. “well, I should get this out to him, I wonder how long it took me to finish up?” Keeping track of time while working was not one of Jurgen's strong-points, he had been known to work for days and be completely surprised at the fact that so much time had passed. He couldn't help rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment as he remembered how he had missed his own wedding because he had spent so much time crafting the ring for his wife because he wanted to get it perfect. Thankfully, she had forgiven him, or he might have regretted that lapse in judgment for the rest of his life. He hoped he hadn't held up the boy for long as he stepped outside his personal workshop.

-----

While Jurgen was busy working on his new set, Andaros had been quite busy.

The seamstress Teluna taught him how to use the loom, passing the shuttlecock through, and switching the threads that were upward or downward with the loom arm. She was sure to teach him to be very careful to ensure the cross threads were tightly in place so that the weave would be strong. She then taught him to do a few basic stitches, and how to properly tie off the ends of the stitches so that they did not unravel. She taught him how to make strings from wool, and other materials that had the same ability to be turned from disorganized fibers into string, or yarn, and even how to use a spinning wheel to speed up the process.

The leatherworker, Sonn, taught him how to make leather from hides, curing them in a rather pungent mixture of things he didn't wish to think of as being part of making leather. He taught him how to use the tools of the leatherworker to punch holes, or patterns into the leather, and how to use leather as a kind of thicker string. He worked with Teluna to show him how to measure, and make patterns to get the closest fit in leather and cloth work in order to properly fit the person wearing the items he would make. That seemed to be the most difficult part for him to get his head around of the two's procedures and processes. He also showed him how to make fur, and the two crafters taught him how to blend the two products together in such a way that it was appealing to females, or so they told him.

The next crafting trainer he went to was the blacksmith, who taught him how to make nails and rivets, and wouldn't teach him a thing more about the creation of items.

“Don't mind him,” the weapon-smith told him when he was set to train with him. “He's just not the best with explaining how to create weapons and tools, so he's sending you to me, so you can learn easier.”

The man taught Andaros how to further heat, and properly turn the metal, and a dozen other operations that soon had Andaros's head spinning, including how to sharpen, and polish a blade, or smooth and polish the surface of a hammer. Hammering the metal was rather therapeutic for Andaros, and he found it interesting to work with the metals to get them into the right shape. The most troublesome thing in the weapon-making process for Andaros was quenching, put it in too early, or too long, or too hot, or any other of a dozen other ors, and it would damage the blade he was trying to form, and ultimately destroy his work. Thankfully, the man also thoughtfully showed him how to rework, and remake the metal.

The Armor-smith taught similar things, but the procedures changed a bit for smithing armor as opposed to weapons. He was taught the ways to measure, and form the armor plates for armor, and how to connect the armor plates together, he was even taught how to make chain-mail rings, although he only got to actually make a few of those to create a small section of chain-mail in the end.

The woodworking trainer taught him how to pick out, and work with the grain of the wood to make what he wanted, basic planing, carving, smoothing, treating, and the other basics of woodworking. He even covered applying pitch to wood for things like making a boat, but for the most part only taught the basics of any woodworking skill. He told him that the key to woodworking would be lots of working with, and observing wood.

The fletcher trainer taught him the basics of creating bows and arrows, and a few of the more complex ways in which to affix a string, or limb in order to make compound or bone bows. In fact, the most useful skill he taught him was how to work with bone, but Andaros learned a lot regardless.

The stone-worker trainer taught him how to carve and smooth stone into a block, as well as the basics of carving stone versus carving wood. Sculpting wasn't taught here, but he told him that if he devoted enough time to the basics of stone carving he would learn to sculpt so long as he had a bit of imagination.

The architect trainer was the most interesting of the trainers here for Andaros, he liked learning about how to apply the geometry and other math he had learned in school. He enjoyed building things using them, and found that an understanding of stress loads he was taught was helpful in learning how to build a building. He made a small-scale building, and they used a heavy rock to test it's ability to withstand stresses. It failed, but the man told him he had done well for his first time.

After that was the social class master, who taught him about the bard and dancer social classes. She told him these were the only two social classes available in the hamlet, and she was proficient in both. She didn't introduce him to the trainers, as she said they were out doing something in the nearest village at the time, and so he'd have to make due with her introduction to the two classes. If there were any other social classes, she didn't bother introducing them, and seemed perturbed and became aggressive when he asked about it. He eventually gave up, and returned to the crafts master's place.

Waiting for Jurgen to return was a bit boring, but Andaros patiently waited, there was nothing else he could do. After a while, a young lady came up to him, and asked, “Are you the crafting class master?”

“No, I'm just a sojourner waiting on him myself,” Andaros answered after some thought, “but I think I can get you started on your next step, unless your quest says specifically to speak to him first. If you go over to Teluna, the seamstress or weaver over there,” he pointed her out, “and explain your situation, she should be able to get you started, the crafts master is currently in his workshop working, and I'm not sure when he'll be done.”

“Okay, thank you,” she said, and then seemed to be working with her menus. “Huh? So other sojourners can update quest information? Good to know, thanks a lot,” she told him, and headed over to Teluna.

Andaros watched the girl go through the rounds, and struggle in a number of things he hadn't, but also do better in some things he hadn't. She went over to where the social class master, it was then that things went weird. Unlike his situation, she was told to go to a few buildings, and left from those buildings to do various tasks, and head back, then head into others. Andaros couldn't understand it, he wasn't even given the option to go to those places, but here she was being sent to a lot of them. After a while, the girl wandered, looking around, and then noticed he was still there, and came over to him.

“Hey, do you know about this social class sub-quest? I can't find the thing I'm supposed to get for it.”

“No, I wasn't even sent to the social class representatives. How many have you been sent to so far?”

“This is the fifth one, and there are two more,” she told him.

“I was told only two social classes were here, bard and dancer, and that the representatives were at a nearby village,” Andaros told her.

“Now that is, indeed, strange,” Andaros heard Jurgen's voice behind him, and turned around. “Here, your set is complete. Turned out pretty well, go ahead and equip them. What sub-quest are you on, young lady?”

“The one for Gavin,” she told him.

“Ah, then the answer is right in front of you,” The Craft Master told him, “Gavin likely noticed whatever is happening. The quest you have is a bit different from the usual, but within the spirit of the sub-quest he usually gives. Your answer is to bring Andaros to him. Hmmmm.”

“What are you doing,” she asked, curiously.

“Reviewing your quest log, and comparing it to the boy's. It seems someone is trying to suppress you boy,” Jurgen told him. “Go with the girl, that was good advice you gave her earlier. Hmmm, one moment, you two,” Jurgen seemed to think of something, and went into his workshop again, then soon came back out. “Pick one of the five, girl. Perhaps if The Great Creator is with you you may encounter a blessing.”

The girl looked over the items, and picked up a bracelet. Seeing this, Jurgen let out a sigh, and looked at Andaros. Andaros just shrugged, and said, “I get the feeling it's someone who should be related to me.”

“Oh? How do you know,” the old man asked.

“It's this kinda weird feeling, like it's not coming from me, but from something outside me,” Andaros answered. “Maybe it's coming from the ring?”

“A partial connection? I've never heard of that happening before,” Jurgen responded.

“A sentient item,” the girl asked.

“Perhaps, it is certainly an item that chooses it's master, but whether it is sentient is debatable. Still, if it is capable of a partial connection, it may be so. Come with me,” Jurgen told them, and gathered the items on the table, as well as Andaros's psiber-armor, before heading into his personal workshop.

Looking at each other, the two had a wondering look. Andaros soon shrugged, and followed Jurgen into the space. The girl soon followed him, and the two looked around a bit curiously before focusing their attention on Jurgen.

“Boy, do not activate or deactivate this armor in front of too many people. Small psiber-armors with such features are quite uncommon,” Jurgen warned him. “It was fine earlier, because the others were distracted by the work they were doing, but be cautious from now on. Well, they can't steal it from you now, but you should still be cautious. Most will simply think it's a heavy armor, or standard small psiber-armor, and even those who think it might be a special suit won't act unless they're certain. So, you should be fine if you do not activate and deactivate the armor in front of those you do not trust. If some unscrupulous individual sees you activating and deactivating it, you may become a target.”

“Young lady, that bracelet there is similar in rarity, I added the binding property to it, so it won't be lost, but you may become a target if others know about it,” Jurgen warned her.

“What does it do,” the girl asked.

“Look in your inventory,” Andaros told her, “and read the item information. I don't need to know, nor does anyone else, but if you need help you can talk with me. I have no reason to share the information with others, and as you know about my armor, you have a means to ensure I don't share your secret either.”

“I knew I liked you for a reason, boy,” Jurgen stated, and laughed. “Girl, he's trustworthy, but make sure you aren't overheard by others. You can also come to me if I'm not busy. After all, I made that bracelet. I won't tell you too much, but I can help you understand enough about it's abilities to make use of it.”

“May I ask what it is,” Andaros asked.

“It's an armor similar to your psiber-armor, just not as advanced,” Jurgen explained, “It can't be used with your psiber-armor, so there's no use to having it for you. Here, put your gear on, and activate your armor before you leave, boy.”

“Ah, I see,” Andaros responded, and took the deactivated psiber-armor. He soon equipped his new set, and activated the psiber-armor. The armor appeared, and looking into his sojourner screen he saw that with the new bandanna it kinda made him look like some kind of warrior.

“Not bad, the design match feature seems to be working,” Jurgen said while nodding his head. “Your psiber-armor should have three forms, but that feature is a bit clunky, so the change will take about half of a cron, that's close to your world's term called an hour.”

“I thought you were just making it into a set,” Andaros said, shocked by this information.

“What can I say? I became inspired, and so I made some extraneous changes aside from the set forming,” the old man informed him. “All of the items have a design matching function, except your psiber-armor, which has the design change function I mentioned. There are also some other additions, but you'll have to look into those yourself, I won't give you any more information on them as someone is coming. Girl, put on your new armor.”

The girl did as she was told, and activated the armor he had given her, and it quickly appeared over her items, looking like some kind of armored robe.

“Not bad, girl, not bad, Just like his armor, it has a design change feature,” Crafts Master Jurgen told her. “You can figure out the details of the armor later, let's go out.”

When the three stepped out, they found the social class master standing there fuming. “What are you doing, old man?!”

“Taking care of my charges,” the old crafts master responded, “and I have the same question for you. Why is it that Andaros only has information on two social classes and none of the sub-quests were given to him? It even shows that you lied about the representatives of those two social classes being out of the hamlet.”

The woman scowled at him, “What I choose to do with the candidates is my business, not yours.”

“Then you cannot fault me for making the same declaration,” Jurgen responded, smiling lightly, “I'll be having a talk with Percy about this. Now, young Andaros, kindly help your new friend with her social class quest, and we shall speak on your decision as to social or crafting class later on.”

Andaros looked to the girl, she nodded to him, and the two walked away from the fuming woman and Crafts Master Jurgen. He followed her to the building she had last left and inside they found a rather debonair looking middle-aged man in there. As he walked away, Andaros realized he was never able to ask her about the differences between the crafting and social class types, she had apparently already been hostile to him, even before he met her.

“Ah, I see you've managed to find the key to completing my social class sub-quest, young Reiya,” the social class tutor told the girl when they arrived, then addressed Andaros, “It's a pleasure to finally meet you, young Andaros.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Andaros responded politely.

“I must apologize to you, I have been instructed that I am not allowed to give you my sub-quests, as have the rest of my associates,” the man told him. “However, I find what is being done to be quite unconscionable, so I have decided to help you understand a number of the various social classes here. Reiya, I wish to have you speak about the social classes, and the experiences you had in your sub-quests, this may give him the necessary insights into the social classes so that his choices will not be too reduced by this despicable business. It should also help you to understand the social class choices as well, and I will reward you for your efforts.”

“I would help him anyway,” Reiya replied, and began to tell him about the social classes.

The first was the Bard, and as she told him what she had learned, he realized that the social class master had misled him. She had told him that music on Aegis was different than on his own world, but in truth, while music theory didn't generally exist here, the music hadn't changed, it was simply that it wasn't always bound to the same rules. This could lead to certain effects, but also meant that for the most part it followed the same basic rules as in their world. The biggest disservice she had given Andaros was shifting the notes that applied, so Andaros would naturally not have been able to be a bard if he had followed what the woman instructed him. The girl's quest here had involved helping a mother to get her child to calm down and sleep with a lullaby.

The second she covered was the Dancer, and again, the woman had purposefully misled him, making it appear as if dancing in this world were completely different than in his world. Sure, it would generate effects that weren't possible in their own world, but dancing was very much similar to their world, and there were many styles. The quest she had undergone here was to dance for the guardsmen and improve their moods.

The next class Reiya covered departed greatly from the theme of the previous two classes, and was the guard, bodyguard, or knight classes. These were the people like his father, who guarded a town, kingdom, or personage. Each was actually a separate class, but most of their bonuses were similar. The biggest difference was in the ability of a knight to take a squire, while a guard, or bodyguard could not do so. All gave bonuses to combat in defense of something, or someone. Once again there was a difference here, and bodyguards gained bonuses only when protecting their specific charge, or charges, while guards gained a bonus for protecting an area, and knights gained bonuses in defense of their kingdom, their citizens, and more importantly their liege. For this part, she had been requested to go on a patrol with a guard team, and act as one of their members for a cron, the equivalent of an hour.

The next social class was a barmaid, strangely enough. The work was to act as a waitress, and deal with rowdy customers. Here her quest was to wait tables for a cron without going off on the customers, which had turned out to be very difficult when customers were doing things like pinching her butt, or cussing her out. Thankfully, many of the customers stood up for her when such things happened, and it had eased her troubles.

The final social class she could explain was the class of this man, the councilor. It was not a class only he had access to in the hamlet, but as a trainer, he was under the class master for social classes, and only had so much he could do for Andaros. Councilors were not like those in schools, but decided the course of a place, how funds were spent, what projects they would undertake, and they helped bring people together, which was the quest she had been given, in bringing Andaros here. The class was basically a politician, only more geared toward the good side of the political processes.

Andaros listened carefully, and paid attention to what Reiya said. When she was done speaking, he looked toward the man. “Thank you,” he told him thoughtfully.

“Don't thank me, thank her, she did what needed to be done, I just facilitated the exchange,” the man told him, but Andaros understood that facilitating that exchange had been part of his class as well. “It's a shame I can do nothing about the other two social classes.”

“You still played a part in my learning the truth, and the classes. It seems not all politicians are bad,” Andaros told him, then turned and told the girl, “ Thank you, Reiya.”

“I'm no politician, I do not make a career of controlling the fate of nations, and enriching myself by playing with that fate,” the man responded with a grimace, “No, I am merely a representative of my people. Now, run along, you two, I'm sure Percy and our class master will be waiting for you Andaros.”

Andaros and Reiya soon left, after Reiya said her thanks, and Andaros soon arrived back at Crafts Master Jurgen's to find the social class master still there, and fuming even more than before. Reiya had headed off to the other two social class representatives.

“What's with her,” Andaros asked Jurgen.

“Oh, nothing much,” Jurgen responded, “She's just pissed because you got to meet Gavin. On the plus side, I did get her to spill why she's doing this, but unfortunately knowing that won't do much.”

“Then why?”

“Apparently you pissed off her favorite person,” Jurgen told him.

“Let me guess, my uncle, Nimar,” Andaros responded.

“Yes, what happened anyway? Even she doesn't know,” Jurgen asked and then clarified why he asked.

“I mentioned that I could help those with creature features, but no caelestial-born awakening. While I was praying about the situation with my sister, I got a popup that said one of my abilities could now cause a caelestial-born transformation in those with such features,” Andaros answered truthfully, “We were discussing them after my mother worried about my strange appearance. When I mentioned it, he didn't take too kindly to my words for some reason, and stormed off.”

“HOW COULD YOU?!”

“RIMI!”

“WHAT?! HE DARED TELL HIM THAT AFTER HE LOST MOST OF HIS FAMILY TO ONE OF THOSE BEASTS!”

“Is it wrong to wish to help those who have not done such things, and prevent them from ever being forced to do such things by things they don't even understand,” Andaros asked calmly. “I was praying to help keep the innocent from doing such things. What right do you have to call them BEASTS?! They are sentient beings, just like us.”

The woman glared at him angrily, obviously not willing to listen to reason. “I will never let someone like you get a social class in this place, YOU BEAST,” she yelled, and stormed off. How someone who was supposed to be kind could act like this, Andaros didn't understand and was left stumped.

Your ability to choose standard social classes has been closed off within the Tutorial Hamlet of the Veiled Isle.

“That could have gone better,” Crafts Master Jurgen said, and grimaced.

“Couldn't have gone much worse though,” Andaros responded, “She blocked my ability to choose standard social classes here. I just don't understand why someone who's supposed to be very kind could be as cruel as that.”

“For Rimi, the victim is Nimar, rather than considering the other side, she blames the other side for the events, and takes the part of the one she empathizes with,” Jurgen responded, “or perhaps thinks she knows. She's being lead by emotions, and emotional people do foolish things on a whim. When one is emotional, their ability to consider all the ramifications of an action is impaired. Of course, we cannot close off our emotions or we will become unfeeling monsters, but we must strive for self-control, so we are not lead to do foolish things by our emotions.”

“At least she didn't lash out at Reiya as well,” Andaros responded. “Good thing, she had her other sub-quests to do.”

“There is that, we should get on with the final step of your quest. As Social Class Master Rimi is not here I will oversee your choices by myself. Here, I'll bring up the class choices screen.”

Please choose your crafting and/or social class:

Andaros looked through the list of classes, finding all the basic classes, that he had done sub-quests for and a number he had not. The basic social classes were grayed out, indicating that they could not be chosen, but he had met the prerequisites. Interestingly enough, there were classes he had heard nothing about, and had not spoken to a craftsman about at all.

…..

Spirit-Gunsmith

Psiber-Smith

Psi-tech Smith(King)

When Andaros saw the final three class choices, he found a rather different one, the Psi-tech Smith seemed to be a mixed crafting and social class with benefits of the royalty social classes, as it was a king tier class. In addition to this, the class could create and modify psiber-armor, spirit-guns, and psiber-weapons, and even add affixes, or produce items that could add affixes. Well, that would be at the higher levels of the class, if going by what the class description stated, but it was already quite unusual to find classes that could apply affixes, and produce items that applied affixes to other items. He was a bit surprised it was available, but as he had a class that could use such products, and even had them in his possession, he assumed that had somehow fulfilled a prerequisite for the crafting class. It seemed one only needed to have a single major prerequisite in order to chose crafting and social classes.

When he mentioned the class, and interesting thing happened, the Crafts Master became very excited, and immediately told him he should take the class if he was at all willing. He told Andaros that a crafting class which specialized in creating two or three kinds of high end goods was already quite the boon, let alone one with a king tier. In fact, crafting classes with such a tier were treated as royalty in all nations of the civilized races. They were more effective than a class of the same level without the prefix, and had some additional abilities only that class held. King was apparently the highest known tier of crafting classes, and so was exceedingly rare, royalty would often even treat them better than royals of other nations, or as beloved members of their own family.

Andaros considered taking one of the other two classes, because being treated like royalty sounded like a hassle, but the crafts master managed to convince him that it would be more helpful than not, and if he kept the true name of the class secret most would never know. Since the class description made it clear he could produce and work on all the weapons and armor he currently had, he eventually accepted it. Of course, while the class was good, it wouldn't make him good without putting a lot of effort into it, so he wouldn't be getting a free lunch, unless he used the class's rarity to his advantage and really got a free lunch, of course. Actually, Andaros didn't believe in free lunch, while it might appear free to one person, it was always on the backs of someone else. Either you had to give up your liberties, or someone else had to give up their liberties to get you that thing that was sold to you as being free, and both cases endangered your own liberty.

After some hesitance, Andaros took Jurgen's advice, and picked that class as his crafting and social class. Then waited until Reiya returned and took her class. As for Reiya, Andaros wasn't sure what class she took, but figured he could always ask her to find out.

“Good, your crafting classes are chosen, it's about time you return to Percy,” Jurgen told the two once Reiya chose her class, “and finish up your tutorial quests.”

“Actually, I have another thing I wanted to talk to the craftsmen about,” Andaros said. “I wanted to order new sets of armor for my father, and the rest of the guardsmen.”

“Do you have that much money, it's five gold just for a basic suit of the level your father would need, perhaps more,” Jurgen told him. “There are also one hundred people in the guard of varying levels.”

“And with weapons?”

“Those are already taken care of,” Jurgen responded.

“Then I should have enough,” Andaros replied.

“There's another problem, we don't have enough materials,” Jurgen responded.

“Is there any way I can gather the materials?”

“Not until you reach level fifteen in both combat and crafting classes,” Jurgen responded, “The materials you would need would require that, they're in the mountains out east, past the forest. As for the harvesting skills, you can pick them up through practice and use.”

Andaros was surprised by his words, the biggest surprise came from where the materials came from. It was the excuse he needed to go visit the camp site without suspicion. Getting to level fifteen in both classes might be annoying, but also probably wouldn't take all that long if he put in his very best efforts.

“Alright, I'll return later to get information on where to search for materials for working on my crafting class,” Andaros told him.

“Good, I'll help you out,” Jurgen said. “You can purchase basic prospecting and crafting tools from Adolpho, and I'll give you advice on where to go for each material.”

“Thank you, crafts master,” Andaros responded.

“Yes, thank you, crafts master,” Reiya told him. “I'd like to ask for your help in my class as well.”

“Of course girl, I'll be sure to help you out,” Jurgen responded, grinning. “Now, off you go, take care of each other, and your families.”

Andaros and Reiya left there, and headed back to Percy. As they were walking, Andaros was interested to learn what craft she had chosen.

“So, you chose a crafting class?”

“Yeah, it doesn't have a special tier, but I wanted to get it anyway. I can check on the details later, but at least this way I won't have to purchase armor all the time.”

“Oh? What did you choose?”

“Outfitter, the basic description said it's a mix of the cloth, and leather crafts,” she told him as they continued walking. “I can make some undergarments for myself, as well as robes and armor for my class. I don't know yet what I can make aside from those things.”

“Oh? I'll have to commission some leather armor once you manage to make your own,” he told her. “I can probably make my own, but I won't have the skills that make getting bonuses easier, or allow choosing the bonuses the armor comes with.”

“If you promise to make me a pair of those guns, I'll make you all the armor you want,” she told him. “I never thought I'd find modern weapons in Trinity. My class isn't exactly designed around them, but maybe you can find some way around that.”

“What class,” Andaros asked.

“Guardian of Light, it's a kind of tank healer class,” she informed him.

“Sounds interesting. Hey, wanna work together? At least until I get some levels in and can make it out to where I can gather materials for my crafting class?”

“Sure, I'd like that,” Reiya told him. “Let's see what the next quest is, or if there is one.”

“Alright,” Andaros responded.