“Bulwark, then. It is a defensive class that focuses on engaging monsters in ways so they have a hard time harming your other party members. If you wanna get up close to a monster three times your size, that’s the class you want.”

“And smashing things?” Garble said, fins perking up at the word smashing.

“Well, they use a weapon in one hand, and a shield in the other, typically. But they can smash.” The clerk adjusted his glasses, an expectant smile on his face. “In fact, they can learn a host of debili--”

“Done,” Garble slapped the paper, with his choice written, onto the clerk’s chest. “Where do I get the stuff?”

Spike slipped his paper next to Garble's, hovering in to get it into position. Smolder, the only remaining, was tapping a foot. "I'm not interested in standing hiding behind Suddenly Caring Brother. What have you got that lets me get in close and make them regret everything?"

The clerk considered a moment, inspecting Smolder. "Do you have any melee practice."

"Mel-what?" She turned a hand palmside up with an expansive shrug, looking baffled at the idea.

"Fighting face to face, with a blade or with your fists," explained the clerk, doing a poor job of disguising his naked amusement at how un-knowledgeable the cute but daft demi-humans were before him.

"Oh! Yeah! Exactly that." She pointed to him with a fanged smile. "Hook me up."

Spike nodded to himself. "Vita means life," he noted. "If I can do stuff based on that, I bet I could do all kinds of things."

"Where'd you learn that, your pony friends?" scoffed Garble, waving off the talk.

"Intersector," offered the clerk. "Specializing in quick deft strikes over slow ones, they can get into and out of trouble quickly while tearing their enemies apart." His voice sounded like he was quoting some already written slogan for the class. "Sound good?"

"Sounds great," agreed Smolder with a big grin. She quickly filled out her paper and set it with the others. "Alright, done! What's the next step?"

The clerk took all three papers, browsing them for but a moment. "I presume Sandra will be your sponsor?" When all three looked confused, he just smiled a little. "Demi-humans need a human sponsor, but I saw you four together before, so don't worry about it." He casually applied one of the dropped pens to each paper, adding Sandra's name to a field they hadn't even paid much mind to. "Now just the small matter of fees. Do you need to get her for that?"

"No," stated Garble in almost a bark, pulling out a handful of coins and slapping them on the counter. "That enough?"

The clerk pushed around, counting under his breath, then he scooped up the majority of it, leaving a few coins. “Allow me to fetch fresh guildchains,” he said as he headed into the back room.

Garble snatched up his coins, depositing them with a notable clink from more coins he didn’t bother presenting. “... What?” he said, noticing Smolder and Spike’s stares. “It’s mine, isn’t it?”

After a moment, the clerk came back in with three wooden cases, held closed with clasps. He distributed them to each of the three dragons, stepping back and bowing. “Welcome to the adventurers guild of Zoramiah. Go and forge your stone to diamonds.”

Spike unclasped and threw open the box. Inside there was a bland looking rock, the same he saw on Sandra’s brooch, held in place by a bit of wire that was attached to a chain. There were extra links as well, and the chain had a loop to attach it to… something.

Spike reached in and picked up the stone. Immediately it lit up, forming a little colorful menu with “Welcome, Spike” at the top. It faded into several options, and he immediately hit status. The class name was still blank. “Hey… I thought I wanted vitamancer?”

"We haven't quite finished," he assured. "But we have reached the end of what I offer. One moment, please." He turned in place, raising his own guildchain, similar and yet different than Sandra's, and waving the opposing hand over it. "We have three newbies in need of basic introductions and equipment." The gem in it shone bright a moment before going dim. "She's on the way."

Smolder rolled a hand. "Tell me it isn't Sandra. I'm not quite ready to see her just yet."

"What, I thought you loved her or something." Garble shrugged lightly, rolling his eyes. "The way you keep doing what she says and all."

Spike jingled his new chain, wrapped around his arm as it was. "It isn't like that. She knows how this world works. It makes sense to stick on her good side, at least until we've figured things out."

The clerk was paying them no mind, already returned to looking busy behind his desk as if they weren't there.

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"It's Sandra's summons!" came a voice from the right. The man with the bow that had antagonized Sandra earlier was standing there, gaping openly at them. "What are you doing here, without Sandra? Did she send you?"

“Hey!” Garble stepped ahead of the rest. “Sandra doesn’t tell me what to do. We’re here with my money to get classes because we wanted to.”

The archer raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, it doesn’t work that way. You’re summons, not adventurers, and you don’t get classes, or guildchains, or anything.”

“Oh yeah!” Garble said, and yanked the chain out of his case, the stone dangling with the words “Welcome Garble” flashing on the menu . “See! Class junk.”

The other two dragons held up their chains in a show of solidarity and not-summon status, smiles on all three faces in various shades of prideful triumph. "Huh, right." The archer hiked a thumb. "Get back to me when you're not just playing dress up. Bet you won't even use your classes right."

Garble snorted smoke as the archer walked away. “Who does he think he is?”

Smolder sidled up to Spike, whispering, “I think Garble found someone that annoys him more than you do.”

Spike snickered at the very idea of it. "I can only hope. So where's--"

A new guild member approached, older with an ornate guildchain dangling around their neck. "Are you the new students? Hm, demi-humans. Do you understand what you're signing up for? This is not an easy path you have chosen."

Spike started to open his mouth, only to be interrupted by Garble. “What kinda question is that? We said we wanted to, didn’t we?”

Smolder lifted her shoulders. "We already took down this big, uh, what was it, bushant? Angry bush. Hook us up." She jiggled her chain at the man.

Her brows raised as one. "Did you now?"

"They were with Sandra," noted the clerk without looking up.

"Ah… Good to see she's getting her feet under herself." The potential teacher gestured back where she had come from. "Follow me, then.”

They were led through ornate stone halls, the clicks of their claws echoing on the ground as they walked. "As new members, the first thing you will learn is how to use the classes you have selected, and how not to hurt yourself or those around you."

Smolder leaned towards Garble. "Think Sandra missed that class," she whispered with a wicked smirk.

"As I was saying.” The woman didn’t look back. “The classes you have chosen will determine what abilities you have and learn. Many magical pieces of equipment are created by the various craftsmen of the town, or dropped by monsters, or even found in ruins, and the class you have chosen will determine what magics you learn.”

“But--” Smolder began to say, before being cut off.

“For example, the cheapest and most elementary magic staff will give an elemancer access to a basic fire spell, but for a vitamancer it will give you access to your basic healing spell, instead. A vitamancer cannot cast a fire spell, nor can an elemancer cast a healing spell, as the nature of those classes are anathema to it.”

They passed an ornate fountain, burbling softly, but the woman was walking a brisk pace.

“As you gain experience with your magics, you will eventually become accustomed to shaping your power, and you will no longer need the equipment to use those particular abilities.”

The group fell into silence as she finished her explanation. “You may ask your question now.”

“Oh!” Smolder perked up. “So, I thought I was a me… I’m gonna fight stuff with a weapon. Why are you talking about magic and spells?”

She looked over her shoulder. "You will be. Your personal ability to fight is not entirely irrelevant, but to fight things twice your size, literal godlings that could crush a normal human without a thought, some magic is involved even when you're being very physical. All classes use some amount of magic, just not always spells as you know them."

Spike raised a finger, looking smugly confident. "The magic will make us better at fighting, but we still have to fight."

"Did Sandra teach you that?" Their teacher pulled open a barred gate, leading to a wide courtyard that was open to the sky above. "Now then, you--" She turned to Garble. "You registered as a bulwark. Armor is right there." She pointed to a mannequin with a crude breastplate. "And you may select a weapon and shield." She moved her fingers to point to the racks that held many of both. "I recommend something you can easily wield in one hand, not too heavy, as your shield will be just as important, if not more so often."

Garble walked over to the armor, picking it up and starting to look it over. It looked kinda… dinky. He knocked on it, listening to the dull ring. "Was this what the runt was all excited about?" He huffed indignantly.

The teacher then pointed to another mannequin, with a leather jerkin on top of a simple shirt. “The girl registered as an interceptor, which wears light armor. Pick out a small blade as well, two if you prefer. Interceptors focus on rapid movement and attacks, so you want something you can swing quickly, not necessarily something heavy.”

Smolder raised an eyebrow. “Do you tell anycreature they want a heavy weapon?”

The teacher paused, thinking for a moment. “Yes, a rivener. They wield large two handed weapons and let the mass of the weapon add to the power of their blows.”

Spike had not waited. He was already pulling on a simple looking tunic and a pointed hat that he saw waiting to be claimed. "Aw yeah, now we're talking!" He reached for a staff, ready to assume his character's role from Ogres & Obliouettes. "Ta da! Check this out!" He brandished the staff meaningfully. "Cure, cure, restoration!" As he said the last word, the staff suddenly vibrated in his hands.

In his vision, he could see the word Restoration appear briefly and a sensation of needing a target. He yelped and swung wildly, directing the magic at Garble, washing him in a green haze that covered him in sparkling power.

"What… did you just do?" demanded Garble, peering at Spike. "And you look like a dork, just so we're clear."

The teacher wore a severe frown. "How did you do that? I hadn't given you your crystal yet."

"You mean those?" Spike pointed to a small table nearby where a collection of different shaped crystals rested. "They have labels. I took mine."

"You're not supposed to do that until I tell you to!" she barked with obvious irritation. "Still, you did manage that reasonably. Thankfully, your accidental spell was a restorative one, and not a fireball. You have to treat this with respect."

Smolder laughed and poked her head up, holding two differently sized daggers. “A fireball would probably be totally okay. We are dragons, after all. Hey hold on.” She hopped up and flapped over to Spike, not dropping the daggers. “Your thingamajig is different.”

Spike held up his guildchain, the bland stone was now set in copper colored leaves around the stone. He recalled back to Sandra’s guildchain, which he now realized was set with four little nodes on the corners with a bit of flame, electricity, a water bubble, and a swirling air node. He held it up, looking at the proof of his very first class.

"Time to see what I can do!" came Garble's sudden announcement, eyes turning just in time to see what he was doing.