Freddie smiles in triumph as he holds Aranya by the forearm, the challenge done. If I could, I’d be smiling with him. I don’t know how I was expecting the kids to beat Aranya and Rocky, but I wasn’t expecting them to split up and face the two individually! The young orc’s look of victory soon turns to one of uncertainty, even as Rocky drags himself to his feet without any hint of wishing to continue the challenge.

“Did… did we win?” asks the orc, and Aranya laughs.

“Of course! You’ve tagged me, haven’t you?”

Rhonda approaches the pair and hears that, but she also looks a bit confused. “But there’s no big fanfare? No flash of light, rush of power… you know, dramatic stuff!”

Aranya giggles at that and shakes her head. “Have you two been listening to the adventurers at the guild? Classes don’t tend to be that dramatic when they unlock, though sometimes the situations are dramatic enough to make up for it. Like, say, chasing down a fleeing priestess while her guardian tries to stop you?” she says with a smirk.

Personally, I’m enjoying their look of anticlimax as they check their status, and their reactions are… a bit odd. They each whoop with joy as they see they have classes, but the joy quickly gives way to confusion. Aranya can see that, and so speaks up.

“Is something the matter?”

“I… don’t know?” offers Freddie.

“Yeah, it’s… kinda weird,” confirms Rhonda.

Curious, I go ahead and spend a little mana to take a peek, and while they make sense to me, it doesn’t take long for me to realize why they’re confused. I poke Teemo to head down there as the kids try to explain.

“Yours is weird too, Rhonda?”

“Yeah, there’s…” she starts, but Freddie finishes her sentence for her.

“A word you don’t recognize?”

The goblin’s eyes widen at that, and she nods. “You too?”

“Yeah.”

Aranya butts in, her own curiosity burning. “Well, don’t leave me in suspense! What did you get?”

The kids exchange looks once more, before Freddie speaks up. “I’m a Legionnaire Paladin of the Shield.”

Aranya looks confused as Rhonda speaks up. “And I’m an Ice Sage.” At my High Priestess’s continued confusion, Freddie can’t help but smirk.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re confused. I can feel that the class is… right, but I don’t know what a Legionnaire is.”

“Yeah, I know I’m a caster, but I’ve never heard of a Sage before.”

“That’s because they’re some of Thedeim’s words,” replies Teemo as he steps out of a shortcut, doing a darn good job of catching up on his air of mystery. Aranya looks intrigued at that, but the kids don’t seem to think it’s anything too unusual.

“What do they mean?” they both ask at once, and Teemo hops up on Aranya’s shoulder before responding.

“Well… I’ll start with Sage, since it’s a bit simpler. In essence, it’s a person of great learning and great magic. The Boss gave me the rundown of what you kids did, and I think Sage is a pretty good fit for you now, Rhonda. You’ve learned one of the fundamentals of how Thedeim’s scions do what we do. He’s been careful about giving out hints with this, too. Imagine what something like Neverrest would do with just what you know about ice and fire now.”

Rhonda winces as she imagines that, and Teemo smiles before continuing. “Still, the Boss can’t make you keep quiet, and part of truly being a sage is in teaching. Just be mindful of who your students are, heh.”

Rhonda looks pretty relieved at that, and Teemo turns to look at Freddie. “Yours has a bit of history behind it. In ages past, there was a society of warriors… or perhaps soldiers is the more accurate word. They fought with large round shields and short spears, and were experts in tactics and positioning. They would fight side by side, presenting enemies with an impenetrable wall of shields, and would stab out of the small cracks with their spears.

“A later empire, or maybe one born from the original society? The Boss isn’t the best with history, so the details are a little muddy, but the idea of soldiers with shields, working together, was improved on. Instead of large round shields, they became more rectangular and easier to hold together in formation. They still sometimes used spears, but generally preferred short swords. They were the Legion, which means many. A Legionnaire is one of the legion.”

Freddie looks a bit shocked at that, and Teemo chuckles for me. “Yeah, the Boss and I both are kinda surprised the Shield hasn’t managed anything like that before. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure it’d use that word, instead of one of Thedeim’s.”

“Many… so that’s why I had so many manifestations?” asks Freddie, still trying to wrap his head around getting a class that has probably not existed here before. Teemo can only shrug.

“Probably? I don’t know much about classes, and the Boss mostly just has guesswork. It’d be hard to be a legion of one, though. How about you, Rhonda? Do you have any questions?”

She slowly shakes her head. “Not really. I mean, I have a lot of questions, but I don’t know what to ask first! I think I need some time to think about it and maybe ask Master Staiven what he thinks.”

Freddie nods at that. “I’d also like to talk with Head Priest Torlon about what this means, too. I can feel a closer connection to the Shield now, but… I think I’d like to get his advice on what to do.” He shakes his head, trying to clear it, but his mood lightens a bit as he feels Fiona climb onto his back. He reaches up and pets her some, before returning his focus to my Voice.

“It’s never simple with you, is it, Thedeim? We first came in here for just some spell spores, and both got put on a path for our lives. We then came in just for a familiar for Rhonda, and we both left with a new friend. Now we came in here for our classes, and you’ve gone and given us something weird. Again.”

Rhonda grins at that. “It’s our own fault, though. We’ve known from the start you don’t behave like other dungeons. We should have guessed you’d be weird with classes, too.”

Aranya and Teemo just smile at that, before Freddie speaks up once more. “Still, we should probably head home. It’s pretty late and people will probably wonder what we’ve been up to, not to mention that we need to talk about our classes.”

“I’ll lead you two down a shortcut to the gates,” offers Teemo before hopping off Aranya’s shoulders. She speaks up before he can vanish down a shortcut, though.

“I’ll meet you in the Sanctum after?” Yeah, she wants to talk about those words, and probably more. It’d probably be a good idea, too. I’m not deliberately trying to keep this stuff from her, there just hasn’t been much point. Well, ok, I am going to try to keep my origin from her, partially because these new classes are probably going to cause enough of a wave as it is. I don’t need to go talking about other dimensions and being from them, especially since it seems like not only were humans never a thing here, but they seem to be specifically not allowed to be a thing. I can’t think of any other reason why even Teemo can’t hear the word.

“That’ll be fine, yeah. The Boss isn’t sure how much more he can explain, but just hanging out isn’t bad.” Aranya smiles and seems to accept that answer, and Teemo and the kids soon make their exit.

I try to gather my thoughts, and before I know it, Aranya and Teemo are both in the sanctum. She bows her head and gives a little prayer, before relaxing on her little hammock/cot/bed thing. There’s gotta be a word for that, but I don’t know it.

The kobold takes her time to get comfortable and regards my core, the large orange sphere with swirling depths, seeming to try to gather her own thoughts on the matter. “New words?”

My Voice chuckles at how much just those two words imply. “Yeah, heh. There’s a lot of concepts and stuff floating around in there. Personally, I think that’s why his core looks more active than Neverrest did, or Violet’s does.”

“Where did he hear about those soldiers with shields? I’ve never heard of that kind of legend.”

I take a few moments to measure my words, before passing them on to Teemo. “The world’s a pretty big place, and Neverrest has gotten a lot of weird bits and pieces from the people he killed.”

“It’s a tale captured from Neverrest?”

“It’s a tale from far away, and a long time ago.”

She seems to think on that for a while, before giving a sly smile. “And you’re sure it’s not something He made up, another of His strange concepts that just needed a little nudge to make it real?”

I don’t know what to say to that, and Teemo doesn’t seem to have any answer, either. Aranya’s smile slowly turns to a grin as she takes the silence as an answer, then nods. “They’re still both good ideas and I think will be good for the world. I won’t tell anyone,” she promises.