And now Jax begins his first day of training. Many lessons about him are to be found. Many lessons about his new world are to be found in the people around him. Welcome to the beginning of Jax's training.

Jax watches as the droplets of a puddle he steps in dance in the brilliant sunlight. He fingers his backpack strap nervously as he takes the final steps to the bar where his new teacher should be waiting. He opens the door to quite a sight. Bottles of expensive liquor lie open, usually empty, all over the bar and tables. A few people lay, fast asleep, sprawled out on the leather benches of the tables connected to the walls. One lady, in particular, was quite the sight. She lays on the largest table in the bar chest up, in a loose-fitting crop top. Her head was dangling over the edge of the table, pretty much at a ninety-degree angle from her body. In her hand was holding a half-empty bottle of tequila, held over the edge of the table in a fully extended arm’s grip.

The table itself was covered in the most bottles, twenty-five to thirty by Jax’s estimate, ranging from large 40oz bottles to handheld ones. Barely able to take in the sight as his eyes adjust to the dark, he steps closer to the girl to get a closer look. He notices her breasts are tightly bound in an athletic bra. A sports bra he thinks they’re called. She wore tight black leggings with an arrow made of blue flames going down her legs on the outside.

As he scans the bar again, his eyes had gotten a little more adjusted, and he notices the absence of the bartender he met yesterday. Deciding he doesn’t have much else to do for now he simply wanders the bar cleaning up. He grabs an empty bag and sets to work putting away the bottles. About five minutes in Jax reaches the large table with the girl and a small smile reaches his face as she scrunches up her face in concentration and her leg twitches. She was rather cute, looking sort of like a cat sniffing milk. Moving on he begins to tidy up the table, ignoring the girl's occasional change in facial expression and tiny body movements, depicting snippets of her dreams.

As he grabs the last bottle on the table and starts placing it in his bag, he accidentally hits the edge of the table with the bottle and Jax pauses, holding his breath. He breathes a quiet sigh of relief. He looks up to see the girl twitch again and he places the final bottle in the bag, glad he didn’t wake her.

He sets down the bag against the bar and decides that's enough waiting. He grabs his backpack, which he had set down while cleaning, and starts to head out the door. As he passes by the girl her eyes snap open and he freezes. He stands there frozen, neither of them having any clue what to say. Right as Jax opens his mouth the girl moves.

“Ow, ow, ow.” She groans as she slowly raises her head. Then the moment she has her head raised, facing the opposite direction, she spins on her tailbone, tucking the bottle and her legs as she does, and sits cross-legged to look at Jax. It was an impressive feat of dexterity, especially from someone who had just spent the night drinking. She looks at the bottle in her hand, makes a disgusted sound, and sets it beside her. They look at each other for a brief moment before Jax decides to speak up.

“Must have been quite a celebration last night. There had to have been 1000000 valis worth of empty drinks.” He notes. She nods and runs a hand over her face and through her hair.

“Yeah, one of our friends got a legendary profession six months after their eighteenth birthday.”

“What profession?” He asks, curious.

“Master Musician. The dude is a phenom with any instrument you put in his hands, and as he plays more he just gets better. It's one of the main reasons we had so much to drink last night… Fuck it was fun…” She grins a bit before pinching her glabella and groaning. Jax grins at her pained expression, knowing the feeling.

Just as he was about to ask her for her name the bartender walks in, rubbing his hands together. If he participated in last night’s festivities, you wouldn’t be able to tell. He looked freshly bathed and groomed in clean clothes and awake and energetic. He looks around the room and strokes his goatee. Jax noticed then that he had the build of a medium to high-level melee fighter, with corded muscles running along his forearm and his tight linen shirt bulging slightly at the chest and biceps.

“Who tidied up the place? It looks much better than it did last night when we closed up.” He questions, reaching under the bar for an empty bucket and begins filling it with warm water while adding some soap. Jax fidgets and bounces on his toes a few times.

“I did. I was hoping by helping we could get started sooner on my lessons.” The bartender simply nods and finishes filling the bucket. He grabs a rag and sets the bucket and rag in front of Jax before walking off.

“If you wipe the counters, tables, and chairs, I’ll give you fifty percent off today's lessons. If you sweep and mop the floors and get these amateur drinkers out of my shop, I'll give you today’s lessons for free.”

“Okay.” Jax agrees happily before getting to work. He begins wiping the tables and waking and escorting the bar's patrons out as he cleans. The young lady simply watches as he does, waving to the occasional person she presumably knows as they leave. As he finishes mopping the girl hops onto her feet and walks up to Jax who was pouring the now dirty water down the drain and wringing out the mop. Jax looks at her with an eyebrow raised and an unreadable expression on his face.

“People call me Ash. It’s nice to meet you.” She says while extending her hand. Jax hesitates before replying.

“I’m Jax. I would shake your hand but it’s covered in some pretty gross substances right now.”

“Oh, yeah.” She says before lowering her hand a little awkwardly. “I’m assuming you’re getting lessons from Cam on how to get a class and survive getting it?” She asks as she heads towards the coat rack and grabs a black leather jacket with an eagle made of blue flames on the back.

“Yeah, I am. I have my doubts about how long it will take though, a week seems a bit short.” Jax replies

“Haven’t you spent some time beforehand training your class? Most people start preparing for it at the age of around twelve or thirteen.” She asks while putting her jacket on.

“I just learned of my class recently and haven’t had the opportunity to train for it at all yet.”

“Ah okay. Well, I’m going to be training here for the Ranger class starting today, so I guess we will be seeing more of each other. I’m heading out to grab some breakfast and something to cure this hangover though, so I’ll see you later.” She gives a little wave and heads out the door.

“Alright, see you later.” Jax calls to her back as the door begins to close behind her. He heads to the tap and washes off his hands, all the way up to his elbows, and calls to the bartender whose name he had just learned.

“Uh, Cam? Are we going to start the lessons anytime soon? I finished cleaning everything.” Cam appears then from the back room and looks around his shop smiling. He nods approvingly before saying;

“Damn, you did a good job, I half expected you to completely half-ass it like most people your age would. And you got the job done in half an hour, most impressive. If you happen to need a job before you get your profession, you have one here, as long as you consistently do this good of a job.” Jax simply nods, a small flush rising to his cheeks. He had not received many compliments in recent years. After one more scan of the bar and a nod of satisfaction, the bartender continues.

“So… On to your training. We need to discuss your class and what your training will include. I assume you already have some training and knowledge with your class?”

“I do have some knowledge about my class but no training, I only recently learned my class exists.” Jax answers, starting to worry about his lack of experience.

“Not a problem, but it might take longer to train for your class, especially if the class unlock requirements are based on using the weapon of your class. What class is it?”

“Ninja. I found out about it in an old journal about one from the east. It had quite a few details about the class, including how to unlock it.”

“Alright then. Let's discuss these details and requirements, then we'll spend the next few days teaching you about surviving the wild. You may have to learn how to wield and properly use the weapons in the class yourself, as I have yet to hear of this class a single time.” He lets off a frustrated tick. “But I will not let you leave until I am sure you have at least a good chance at surviving and getting your class. Now…”

They spent the next hour talking about the class and what it would take to acquire it. Cam was quite surprised after hearing about the weapons and requirements of the class. He noted the weapons as sounding incredibly difficult to use, and the classes’ unlock requirements as high above the average difficulty.

“Jax, look. The class you’ve chosen is not only a class lost in this area but is also very difficult to acquire. Most often when trying to acquire a class like this one you would train for it since you were young. I would recommend coming for a week of lessons and practicing with your class’ weaponry for a month to see if you can get the feel for it. If you aren’t feeling confident by then, I will provide you with guidance as well as some connections that may be able to assist you, for a fee of course.”

Jax considered his options, nodding after deciding.

“Okay as long as I am equipped to handle the objective and survive getting my class by the end of this…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t send someone out unprepared.” He claps his hands in what was bound to become a routine gesture to Jax, and harrumphs. “I suppose we will start with the basics. Let’s begin then.” And with that, they began their lessons on how to survive in the wild without a class. It started with long explanations and examples of how to use tools. How to acquire, pack and transport all the supplies necessary to travel in the wilderness was next. Just as he started on the most effective methods to maintain all of it in use and out of the field, the cute girl that reminded Jax of a cat showed up.

She was now wearing a white linen shirt and hardy gray breeches, held tight at the waist with a leather belt. Her black hair had the odd blonde tip and was bound tightly in a ponytail. After Cam had finished explaining how to clean and sharpen your knife and how to find dirt and sand that can properly clean the grease off of cooking equipment, the physical part of training started. This started off relaxing, but difficult. Cam led them to a small, private courtyard, then instructed them both to begin with a series of stretches, different sets for each of them. After the sets and some light exercises, Cam instructed the girl to wield a bow against three stationary targets and hit them in different patterns.

Stolen story; please report.

Jax watches and listens patiently as the bartender directs the girl on how to train for her class. It was pretty interesting, but Jax knew, whatever class she was heading toward, it wasn’t for him. Leaving the girl with a full quiver and a few drills to practice, Cam heads over to Jax, who was casually bouncing on the balls of his feet. Cam smiles in response to his apparent eagerness.

“Let’s see if that enthusiasm lasts, shall we? We will begin with the basics of martial arts…” Cam spent the next half an hour assessing Jax’s stance and punches, offering small tips to improve here and there but mostly hands-off, simply speculating on his technique.

Sweat pours down Jax’s face as he throws a cross straight into the chest of the straw dummy and glances at Cam’s nod of approval.

“Looks like you have some experience throwing a punch. It’s not the worst place to start, but to be able to face dangerous enemies that won’t hesitate to kill you, time and time again, you have to be able to at least master the basics of martial arts. Classes that use unarmed attacks are incredibly difficult because of how often monsters and wild beasts have natural protection against such advances. To even have a chance at eliminating, especially killing enemies as you have to, you will need to master at least the beginning steps of a few deadly martial arts I know. The dilemma is that your fists become far more deadly most often once you have attained the related class, but beforehand it is a matter of mastery, dedication, and skill.”

With that Cam introduced him to his sparring sessions. Not much was said during those sessions. Afterward, however, they would break down and analyze every spar to improve his technique as he rested. Lessons continued like that or in a similar fashion for the next week. Ash and Jax were too involved in getting their class to spend time chatting and getting to know each other. They did however quickly become comfortable enough around each other to stay focused while training in each other's company.

During his spare time, he would run errands to get the house fixed and maintained. Getting the runes recharged and buying new light crystals was easy but expensive. A large portion of his remaining inheritance was spent on the two, but the lights and energy storage would last for years without a dime spent.

With what remained of his little time after training, maintaining the house, and preparing for his class he would read in the library, review the journal, research random facts, or read grand tales of fiction.

Retrieving the weapons ordered from the smith was a most interesting experience for Jax. The first time he stopped by, the daughter of the smith was there again and told him to come back at the end of the week for a surprise. He arrived at the shop on the afternoon of the agreed-upon day, already exhausted from the past week of training. The fiery little dwarf was covered in soot and beamed underneath a coat of black when Jax brought up the weapons. The dwarf came back with three ninjato, six sets of kunai, and a stack of clothing as tall as he was.

“Starting with the ninjato’.” The dwarf says. “I have smithed three. Test out the blades and we'll see what you work well with naturally. Next, we can move onto the stat bonuses of each, maybe make some adjustments depending on what will be the strongest.” Jax’s eyes shine as he studies the three ninjato laying on the cart covered in ninja equipment. One catches his eye particularly.

It was about two feet long with simple yet intricate decorations and embellishments. The blade had a lotus flower at the base that glowed a gentle yet sharp teal. When moving the blade out of its sheath, Jax noticed that the lotus left behind a small trail of light that would dance and fade with the movements of the blade. The handle had a simple carving of a man holding a noose in his left hand and a short sword like the blade itself in its right. Behind the image of the man was what Jax recognized as a simple yet advanced spell matrix for runic enchantments.

“What do the enchantments on this sword do? There are two from what I can tell, and they both look rather powerful, at least for a beginner.” The blacksmith’s eyebrow raises and he reaches out to grab the blade. Jax passes it gently by the handle with the backside to the smith. The smith runs his hand along the side of the blade and rests it on the lotus for a second before holding the blade up and admiring it in the light at a different angle.

“I'm rather proud of this one, to be honest. It’s a perfect beginner’s blade for nearly any class and will grow with the wielder, to a point. The steel is of high quality and I managed to get it a Razor’s Edge Buff. The lotus grants up to +7 damage with any element and dual acts as a channel that boosts the damage of any single element by 5%. The Pommel has a matching enchantment that boosts experience gain and damage against evil alignment by 7% as well as a background enchantment that increases the wielder's affinity for one element by 5%. If you bring it to any skilled runesmith, you can change the enchantment on the blade or pommel to any elementary alignment.”

“I think I'll take that one for sure, but I would love to hear about the other two. Just to make sure I know what's available.”

“Hmph. I know what you mean kid, but trust your gut, the one you picked is the best one of the bunch. Let’s see…” Ulark goes on to explain the other two, one of them being a sort of experiment with shadow steel, the other being a simple yet durable blade. The experiment went so-so. It ended up being a completely black blade with +10 Shadow Damage and a pendant that gives the wielder +3 Speed and +3 Dexterity. The weapon was simple and had high damage potential from the get-go, but Jax would have to unlock his class to unlock the bonuses from the enchantments anyways. The focus, for now, would be what comes beforehand. The last one was perfect for unlocking a class. It had no enchantments but was crafted with the Flawless Razor’s Edge Buff and out of a mithril-steel alloy that kept the blade from dulling.

After testing out the blades, Ulark moved onto the Kunai, giving Jax time to think about which ninjato he wanted, if he could decide. Three sets of kunai were training sets. They were simple, sharp, and balanced. They were crafted by the blacksmith's daughter in hopes of acquiring her first sale. Ulark assured Jax that they were still quality goods and Jax agreed to buy them then and there, and he found that agreeing to spend that money was just barely wetting his beak. They agreed on a handful of Valis and a review of the product, moving on before hashing out the details of the price.

The other three sets of kunai each had simple enchantments, which were rare on thrown items. Ulark did not hesitate to dip into the information on the weapons. Jax was beginning to notice he loved sharing the fruits and knowledge of his craft with others.

“I enchanted each of the Kunai with a single damage rune tied into a sharpness and elemental penetration rune. The first set is a +3 Light Damage Rune and a low-level sharpness and light penetration rune on each knife. The second is the same but with Darkness instead. The last one is Arcane, but only +2 Arcane Damage. I made it with some extra resources I found layin’ around the shop that wasn't being used. I would personally recommend buying all of them and trying them out until you find one that works well with you, but I don’t know your budget.” Before Jax even has the opportunity to answer, Ulark is already moving on to the next items in the cart, this time a serene smile crosses his face as he fingers the fabric of the outfits.

He gently blushes and coughs into his hands before putting on a most adorable yet serious dwarfly face.

“Now look kid, I don't know how you got this lucky but you did. My wife got all excited when she heard you were trying a lost class from the ancient east and decided to make you some garments to celebrate. I hope you don’t mind if I charge you a bit for them… My wife is a very talented Magic Seamstress so I don’t want to give her stuff for free. It wouldn’t be fair to our paying customers. I’ll give you a good deal on it for sure though. Now for the information. Let me see here…” He grabs a piece of paper from underneath the garments with the statistics of the clothing written down. There were three outfits in total. One was a dull gray that consisted of firm yet pliable fabric. It had a simple force weave enchantment added to the fabric to make the wearer take less damage from anything that uses kinetic energy. It consisted of an undercoat, a hooded vest, and loose-fitting pants as well as socks and underwear.

The second outfit caught Jax’s eye the moment he saw it. It contained a hooded, long-sleeve jacket and a tight undercoat of thin stretchy fabric. The pants were light and loose with good dynamics for flexible movement. The fabric of the pants and jacket was soft. and when Jax asked they were made of magic cotton that grows commonly in the south and is both domesticated and wild. It contains many divergent strains that supply equipment with different buffs. The jacket and pants were equipped with enchantments for durability and kinetic resistance. The undershirt, underwear, and socks were made of a self-cleaning fabric that worked well in most climates, barring the most extreme and was durable to top it off.

The last set was the same as the second but it came with a maroon sash that ties around the waist to keep the pants and jacket secure. The sash granted a +3 Dexterity and +3 Constitution Buff. The Dye that went into the second and third sets were enchanted as well, albeit weakly to grant a total of +6% stealth bonus and +3% affinity towards the Darkness Element.

Enamored by the artistry of the blades and dress, Jax’s heart skips a beat as he thinks of building a collection of the masterful works that this family could produce. Incomplete images of advanced dojos flash through his mind as he debates how to approach the topic of the purchase internally.

“If you’re willing Ulark, I’ll purchase every piece of equipment you have on the cart. I would love to experiment with every piece you have here.” He gives the blacksmith an insecure grin and puts his hands in his pockets feeling hopeful.

The blacksmith grins back, although much more confidently.

“I was hoping you would say that. Nobody can make use of this except you. Sure we could try and learn the instruments, but without the right class, we would be just like children playing. Compared to a dedicated individual that hones their class it would be an incredible effort for a trivial gain.”

Jax nods, aware of the massive gap in society between those that dedicate their time and effort to a class and those that don’t.

“It doesn’t make it any easier though boy, there's going to be a path of risk and reward, for you especially. You’re going to have to learn about the effort it takes to follow through on your dedication and dreams, especially when times get hard. That’s about all I can tell you for now.”

Jax nods again, the knowledge being soaked up in his mind, wondering what it would take the old smith to spill some more of his secrets. A strange feeling like a mix between hope and pride flares up in his heart. It was the first time in a while he felt those emotions so vividly. His life of loss had led him to believe that bearing a burden was only a curse, but as the layer of negative emotions started to crack, a light shone through.

“I hope I will have the strength. Patience brought me this far, I didn’t have much else before... So how much will it be?”

The dwarf rubs his beard for a brief moment and then nods before replying.

“Let’s say 2000 valis for each of the sets my daughter crafted, 50% price reduction because she doesn’t have a profession so 3000 for those. The enchanted Kunai are probably worth from 10000 to 15000 a set. You get one for free and then I'll give you the other two for 20000. Let’s say… 35000 for each enchanted ninjato and 20000 for the alloy one. You get one for free and I’ll round it down to 50000. I'll round the total up to 80000 Valis after the clothing, which is probably worth anywhere from 10000 to 25000 Valis. It's the best I can reasonably offer.”

Jax nods and secretly despairs for a moment. If he keeps spending like this he won’t have much money left soon. He had 100000 in cash on his person, 120000 in cash at home, and another 100000 in the bank, and that was all of the money left in his inheritance. As he hands the dwarf a wad of bills and closes his wallet, he lets off an elated sigh. The dwarf just giggles, the sound oddly deep and resonant within the magical building, and packs the equipment in a cheap but hardy burlap backpack. He coughs a little awkwardly while handing him the bag and smiles.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you, and smithing something new was quite the adventure. Come by and ‘ave a drink sometime, oh, and maybe you can show me some of your skills once ya’ get a class, it would be much appreciated.”

Surprised, Jax hesitates shortly before answering.

“I’ll stop by for sure. Thanks a lot, Ulark.” He shoulders the backpack and starts heading out the door. As he cracks it open and the light of the setting sun enters the shop, cascading across runelit stone, he speaks up once more.

“See you soon.” And walks out.