Doing as Captain Thompson had suggested, I asked the clerk to direct me to city hall. The directions were very simple, head to the building right behind the one I was in. Sure enough, when I went to the building, it had a sign out front saying City Hall. I went through the front door before looking around.

There was surprisingly few people there, only two people that were talking in a corner. What really grabbed my attention was the seven foot tall man that appeared to be made of saphire. His entire body was composed of a blue crystal, light seemingly causing him to glow internally.

The man was behind a desk, so I assumed that he was some sort of clerk that worked there. He appeared to be staring off into space until I approached him. He immediately straightened up and gave me a big, and completely fake, smile. "Hello adventurer! My name is Saphen and I am this towns adminstrator. How may I help you today?"

I blinked. I couldn't think of anything to ask, so I said the first thing that came to my mind. "Are you a real person?"

Saphen smiled and shook his head. "No, I am an automatic response unit that has been provided to this town's mayor in order to run administrational duties. How else may I help you adventurer?"

Okay, that wasn't odd at all. My first meeting with an NPC and it was in administration. I was actually happy about that, better it be a computer then some poor, overworked soul that could potentially be bribed. It was better this way. "Well, Saphen, I wanted to know about jobs and certifications?"

Saphen nodded, his smile still permanently in place, before gesturing behind him. Various screens appeared in mid-air, though all of them were blank. As he started talking, words appeared on the screens thatg were exact copies of what he was saying. I guess it was sort of like a reference sheet in case I missed something.

"Adventurer, you have accessed the job tutorial. In the system, a job is a representation of your skills and abilities in certain areas. In order to gain a job, you must first pass the job test and then pay the fee to switch jobs. By gaining a job, certain benefits that are unique to that job will be available for purchase in the shop and current objects in the shop will also be available at a discount in order to further your own abilities. Be warned, you will also lose any benefits you have when you trade jobs. For example, a scientist recieves only 80% of nanites from kills, but he will gain 300% as many nanites from research quests.

You may only have one job active at a time. In order to switch between jobs, you must pay a fee. You will still retain any licenses and qualifications that the job entailed, though you will lose access to any unique parts of the shop for that job. If you pass the job test for a job but do not elect to switch to that job, you automatically gain any licenses and qualifications that job entailed. A license is permission to use certain equipment, such as tanks and jets, that are reserved for that job. A qualification is the usage of certain abilites that are bought, such as the usage of hacking with programmers."

I waited for a second to make sure he was done talking. Once I was completely sure, I re-read the floating screens to make sure I heard everything. So, I could get a job and gain access to unique skills, equipment, and bonuses. At the same time, I would be losing any bonuses I currently had. Speaking of which, what was the bonuses for the adventurer class?

I nodded to myself as I confirmed what I was going to ask. "Saphen, can I train for a job before taking the test? Also, what does the Adventurer job give?"

Saphen waved his hand, causing the writing to disappear from the screens. Good thing I had memorized them already, I really didn't want him to explain it again. As he started speaking, a copy of his speech appeared on the screens once again. "You may train for a job at the training center in town. This can be in the form of a public or private training area. These areas are limited by the types of training instructors and the level of the town, in the case of the public area, or the level of the building, in the case of the private area."

He waved his hands again, causing the writing on the screens to disappear once more. "The adventurer job gives you access to basic combat ability qualifications, basic weapon and equipment licenses, and it gives you 100% of all nanites from your kills and from quests. It does not provide any other bonuses."

I nodded before asking my next question. "So, is there a training center in town?"

Saphen pointed to his left. "The training center for Fort Hood Town is located in the building right next to the city hall in that direction." Well, that would be easy to find. I'd already been to the other two buildings, so basic process of elimination told me which one it would be next.

I gave my thanks before heading outside.