Ney was woken up by the early morning light passing through the window's blinds. His eyes snapped open as he sat on his bed, taking a few seconds to remember where he was before getting up and heading to the bathroom. He had slept like a log, and had recovered all the energy he needed to be overly excited by the prospect of finally becoming an adventurer again. With his face washed, he changed out of his sleepwear and into clothes, still adjusting his shirt as he ran down the stairs to the guild's main area.

As he arrived, he noticed that very few people were there. A party was eating, but they looked so tired that he assumed they had actually been up all night. A single cook manned the kitchen, leisurely preparing food for later in the day, and the only receptionist at her desk was busy with preparatory work for the day and clearly wasn't in any position to take care of his registration.

Did I get a little too excited?

He couldn't go back to bed, the anticipation would keep him wide awake. He could try going out for a walk around the city, but he was still too unfamiliar with its layout to be confident he wouldn't get lost. That other party was eating, so asking for breakfast was the most appealing option to him right now.

He walked to the counter and asked:

"Excuse me, do you serve breakfast this early?"

"Of course! What will you be having?"

"Toast and cheese, please. The cheese melted on the toast."

"An egg with that?"

Ney had never thought of eggs as a breakfast food, so the suggestion startled him, but he figured there would be no harm in trying it out.

"Yes, please. And thank you."

He didn't have to wait long. A few moments later, he was sitting at a table, ready to eat. A single bite in, a hand squeezed his shoulder. He almost jumped away, but was reassured to see it was just his teacher.

"I didn't think you'd get up even earlier than me. Word of advice, adventurers tend to wake up pretty late. Our work doesn't rely on sunlight, so we get comfortable with our schedules."

Ney finished swallowing before asking:

"There's no sunlight in dungeons?"

Jell shook her head.

"Generally speaking, the perceived time of day inside a dungeon will remain static for the duration of a run, even if it looks like there's daylight in there."

Ney nodded, curious as to what that looked like.

"So, if adventurers tend to wake up late, why are you here already?"

"I wanted to get things ready for my students before they got up, but I see I was too late. I'll get back to it now, so take your time to eat. I'll see you at the reception desk."

As Ney ate, he got to witness the morning routine of the adventurer's guild. By the time a few more adventurers arrived, two more cooks had joined the kitchen and were fully ready to serve breakfasts. The receptionist finished her preparation just as two more came to sit at the other desks. The chatter increased in intensity along with the sun's light coming through the windows. Before long, the place was back in the state Ney had witnessed the previous day.

Seeing his teacher waving to him from behind the reception desks, he got up and headed there, catching sight of Velia and Borteni coming down the stairs on the way. The three of them reached Jell together as she said:

"Good morning you three! Since you're already up, we'll take care of your registration right now. It's just a formality since you all have my endorsement already, but it's still crucial that you get a license to join adventuring parties and expeditions, and to participate in the sale of monster parts without attracting the scrutiny of local authorities."

All three nodded, wondering what that process would look like. Seeing that no questions were asked, Jell continued:

"We'll go one at a time. Cariene is in the back with everything ready, so Ney, please follow me."

They walked through a small door to the side of the reception desks, entering a plain and almost empty stone room. In its center stood a large transparent orb floating over a pedestal and filled with moving mechanical parts, while an oversized lectern on which sat a book large enough to completely fill a travel bag stood in the back. The guildmaster was next to the contraption, inviting Ney to come closer.

"So, what's your name?"

"Neyilei, but everyone just calls me Ney."

"Very well. Ney, I'm going to use this appraisal device to access some information contained within you. It won't hurt, but it might feel unpleasant. The process might also fail if you resist it, so try to allow it to go through as much as you can."

He agreed, conscious that refusing would stop him from becoming an adventurer. Thankfully, aside from a Mythic skill he preferred to keep mostly secret, he didn't have anything he wanted to hide yet. He realized that his unease mostly stemmed from the realization that, if he ever did get something that had to be kept a secret, this device could expose it.

Cariene put a hand on the orb, inviting him to do the same. As he touched it, he felt some overwhelming force enter his mind, shifting and sliding like a snake in search of prey. He tensed up as his body reflexively rejected the presence, but a few deep breaths calmed him down, preventing the expulsion of the presence. The information he'd occasionally call upon rose in his mind, laid bare for the orb to see.

As quickly as it had entered, the force retracted, leaving Ney dizzy but otherwise unharmed. On the other side of the orb, Cariene muttered:

"Name matches, human, definitely the level and skills of an apprentice, except for..."

She looked at him with a pleased smile as she said:

"So you're the kid with the Mythic skill. Give me a minute, I'll check if anyone ever got something like it before."

She raised a hand towards the enormous book, which started glowing in response. A moment later, it opened, its pages quickly flipping under the influence of the spell being cast on them. Finally, everything returned to an inanimate state, with Cariene shaking her head.

"Nothing. You're the first person to ever get the [Enhanced Class Change] skill. We don't know of any lower-rarity variants either. This is..."

She looked at Ney, a bright smile forming on her lips. She continued, talking faster and faster:

"... the opportunity of a lifetime! It's a huge honor for me, as a guildmaster, to help someone with this much potential. Considering the nature of your skill, you'll need five or six times as many mentors as an ordinary newbie, but I can totally make that work if it means reaching your full potential. I'll also have to make sure to keep it a secret, at least for now, otherwise you might attract the bad kind of attention, and..."

Ney's head was spinning. He took a step back, unsure of whether he should be proud that the guildmaster was taking this much interest in him, or scared that she seemed to be coming up with a complete life plan for him on the fly. Noticing his discomfort, Cariene interrupted herself, finally concluding:

"One step at a time, eh? For now, let's get your registration finalized."

Ney left the room with a small enchanted badge in his hand. As long as he held it, his name, level and class would appear on it, displayed in glowing text. If he let go, the text would disappear and the item would go back to looking like a useless piece of metal. That palm-sized, circular identification card was tangible proof that, finally, he was an adventurer.

One of the receptionists greeted him before saying:

"Now that you're officially registered, you can come to us to take on the quests displayed on the board over there. Make sure to have your identification with you when you do, otherwise we won't be allowed to approve your requests."

He listened attentively, relieved to hear that the process was relatively simple. However, as excited as he was to get started, the guildmaster had instructed him to wait nearby while she took care of the other students. Still, his curiosity was too strong, so he walked to the quest board despite knowing he wouldn't pick one just yet.

Most of them require to go inside dungeons to complete, but there are a few exceptions.

He got closer to one of the non-dungeon requests he had noticed, allowing him to read it.

"Monster hunt: Great Wyvern
Difficulty: 1★
Reward: 12,000 coins

A level 78 Great Wyvern was spotted flying around the Adenar Range. There are no reported attacks yet, but its proximity to Lucria requires immediate action."

Ney felt dizzy looking at the promised reward. If he had that much money, he could send enough home for his parents to never have to worry about finances ever again, and still have plenty left over for his own needs. High-level adventurers truly lived in a world of their own.

"Hey, kid. Move."

His daydreaming was interrupted by a voice booming behind him. Startled, he quickly stepped aside, making room for the tall, pitch-black knight from the previous day to grab the request Ney had just been looking at. The adventurer then walked to the reception desk and received approval from the clerk without the need for any additional words.

That guy has to be really strong if he grabbed a quest like that, but did he have to be this rude?

An elven woman wearing a long white robe and carrying a wooden staff approached and, as if sensing Ney's thoughts, said:

"Sorry about that, the Black Knight is like that with everyone. Don't take it personally."

"'The Black Knight', uh. Only a title, not even a name?"

"Well, I'm sure he has one, but I don't know it, and as helpful as the clerks over there are, they won't answer any of your questions about other adventurers. To protect privacy and all that. Anyway, my name's Amy, and I'm a healer for my party."

"I'm Ney, and I don't have a role, or party, yet. Nice to meet you."

Amy giggled softly before responding:

"A new adventurer, then. The pleasure's all mine. If you need help with anything, and I happen to be around, feel free to come to me. I promise I won't be bothered."

Near the entrance, someone called her name, so she continued:

"Oh! I have to go. Good luck out there!"

Ney waved her goodbye as she ran outside. He had met, in very quick succession, a grumpy and rude adventurer, followed by a kind, helpful and bubbly one. The profession really included the whole range of personalities.

Thanks to the registration process being short, Ney didn't have to wait very long for the other students to get their own licenses. The rest of their little group had woken up in the meantime, and all five of them were now equipped with the proof that they were adventurers.

They briefly discussed the process, but were interrupted by Cariene coming out of the appraisal room and saying:

"Alright, now that everyone is registered, I'd like to show you a little something we keep handy here at the Lucria Adventurers Guild! It's something that will help you get a head start, so please, follow me."

Curious, the group accepted her invitation and followed her to a hidden flight of stairs leading deep underground. As they made their way down, Ney noticed that the walls around them were built from a stone of a much different color than what he had seen around the city, and that the magical torches hanging on the walls looked nothing like the other light sources in the building, being built from copper rather than iron and emitting a blue light rather than the usual white-orange. He could also feel wisps of magical energy, similar to those around the monument near Fibela, getting denser and denser as they got deeper underground.

Eventually, the group reached a room. As they passed the door, they saw a large crystal floating in its center, glowing in shifting tones and casting moving light spots in every conceivable color on the walls. The students were mesmerized by this spectacle as Cariene watched from the side with a hint of pride in her eyes.

She walked towards the crystal, then turned to the group.

"This, everyone, is a very special reward crystal. As you might know, most dungeons will contain either a reward crystal or a reward chest in the room protected by the boss. However, you can also find them out there in the world, away from the dangers we normally face as adventurers. I've never seen the stone monument near your hometown myself, but from what Jell told me, I believe it is also part of this reward structure."

She circled around the crystal, sliding a hand over it, as she continued:

"This crystal was found here during one of Lucria's many expansion phases. The guildmaster at the time made sure to receive permission from the authorities to relocate the guild right above it, guaranteeing free and easy access to it for all future adventurers. Since then, we've allowed all registered adventurers to collect the reward within it."

Ney was getting more and more curious as to what kind of power this crystal could grant. Was it random, like the monument near Fibela? He didn't have to wait for Cariene to explain:

"This crystal is particularly useful because it always grants the exact same reward to everyone who touches it: the full set of what we call 'base classes'. With this, you'll be able to get a head start with learning the skills you need to fill the role you're going for."

The five students became restless, excited by the prospect of already having access to several classes. Each of them had learned about the base classes and had already decided which one they wanted to go for, but they were now relieved to learn they would not need to unlock their desired class by completing dungeons.

Seeing everyone raring to go, Cariene took a few steps back and said:

"The crystal can give the classes to all of you at once, so no need to be shy, come touch it."

They didn't need to be asked again. Within a few seconds, a circle had formed around the crystal and everyone had a hand against it. Multicolored wisps rode up their arms as information entered their minds:

Reward granted!

Classes unlocked: Fighter, Archer, Bruiser, Mage, Acolyte, Thaumaturge

Ney recognized this as the full list of base classes, without any extras. He half-expected the nebulous clause from [Enhanced Class Change] to kick in and add a bonus, but fixed-reward crystals probably didn't respond to skills or luck. All in all, this remained a desirable outcome. Since he would be able to freely swap between his classes after a while, starting out with six of them was a lot of progress already.

With everyone stepping back and smiling, Cariene clapped her hands before concluding:

"And with that, you're ready to get started as adventurers! You can talk to the clerks upstairs if you want to form a party together or try to join other people. Ah, but not you, Ney. I have special plans for you, so you're staying with me."

Ney felt the jealous stares drilling into him, causing him to instinctively shrink back in response. However, with everyone reaching the conclusion that his skill would require extra attention and that he was effectively being delayed from debuting as an adventurer, they let it go and went up the stairs without causing further trouble.

With Ney and Cariene now alone in the room, the latter said:

"Since you can swap between roles without any penalty, I've asked help from a few friends to help get you acquainted with everything an adventurer might be called to do. From tanking to acting as a support mage, without forgetting trap detection, dungeon navigation, and cooking... Yep, I'll make sure you know it all!"

Ney staggered back under the weight of the expectations being put on him. There was some logic to it, he had to get good at filling every role in a party to take full advantage of his skill, but... wasn't this just too much for one person!?