It seems as though Kay was so excited to see his growth that he did not notice some very intriguing new things that had shown up upon our papers. Or mayhaps it was simply only myself that was caught off guard.

"What?" Kay asks, sounding just a bit confused.

I lean over and point out the changes. Well, perhaps change isn’t the correct word. It wasn't changed, it was added. "This here is the first thing that I noticed, even before seeing the changes in my stats. This section here, the Growth Towards Recommended Classes."

"Oh, I guess that didn't surprise me because I heard Cat say that this was a more complete print out, like the one that we got when we first tested. Although, that section looked a little different? Though I'm not sure how different? Although you are right that this hasn't shown upon any of the rest of our stat sheets."

"Yes, but on our first test, didn't Crestin write in our recommended classes? I don't think that they were printed out. Or where they?" I ask him, feeling possibly even more confused.

"Even if they were, that isn't a complete list of recommended classes. Remember, I said that guilds have their own secrets, including classes." Cat reminds me.

"Ah, is that why there are new classes on there?" I ask him.

"In all fairness Crestin was just making generalized suggestions and is not a magical artifact specifically created to measure your aptitudes and growth." Cat replies.

I thought that it was rather obvious. It was indeed a new section that wasn't there before! Well, I suppose it isn't as obvious for Kay. His added classes both ended in mage. I was beginning to believe that as long it said mage Kay did not care about the words before it. It could say shimmering unicorn of glory and blessed mage and he would only see the mage.

"What is the difference between a Black Mage and a Dark Mage?" I inquire to them, not minding who answered my question.

“I’m glad you ask you see the difference is… umm, well why don’t we let the professor field this one?” Kay’s face quickly flushed red as he realized he didn’t know the answer.

"I shall answer that as guild leader and instructor." Cat says, jumping in to help Kay.

"Oh! I have one more question before you go into your explanation. Are these classes that are unique to our guild?" I ask.

"Hmm. I don't know. We don't tend to share what classes we have discovered with one another. Think of it as a challenge amongst guilds."

"Oh." I say. Wouldn't it be easier to clear the dungeon if we were to share the knowledge that we gain. Oh, but I suppose some people do not wish to clear the labyrinth as it is how they make their income.

Cat nods and continues. "There isn't much of a difference between them. They both use dark magic, however a dark mage specializes in obscuring the terrain and creating a cloak of darkness around a party. They often use it when they are trying to escape from the dungeon."

"How is that different from black magic? Isn't it all just using the darkness element?" Kay questions while tilting his head.

"The way that they utilize it is different, though a bad example it is similar to the difference between water and ice. They don't cause dark plasma or use it as an element, but instead it is more conceptual, I would explain further but I can’t confess to having a deeper understanding. Now onto Black Mages. They cast elemental dark magic, and they also specialize in necromancy. The Black Mage class often evolves into Necromancer."

"How did Kay end up developing these classes?" I ask, confused.

"Oh, about that." Kay says and his voice trails off a bit. "When I was training with Crestin after you got hurt I had some pretty dark emotions that manifested into darkness magic, which we have continued to train me on" he says, and it seems as though he might be ashamed of this.

I simply do not understand why. I don't see any class as truly evil, though it sounds as though some more easily lean into becoming corrupted. But Kay was Kay, and I could not see him falling prey to those dark emotions.

"What about my added class?" I ask him.

"I haven't heard of it before. Maybe Vita has. She is an assassin class after all."

"Really, she is?" Kay asks excitedly. "She seems so sweet, but I guess that she is a bit feisty as well. I always had a feeling that I should not upset her, and now I know why!" Kay says. He seems to be a bit shocked about Vita being an assassin. Somehow, I wasn't. It seemed to suit her.

"I'll go grab her!" Kay said, volunteering himself for the task of hunting her down. I wish him luck.

"How did I end up with a recommended class that you haven't heard of before? And how does one end up with details about a class?" I ask him.

"When a new class presents as an option someone has to officially select it. The longer they are the new class and the more they invest in it the better they come to understand it. We just have to specifically print out your class information and nothing else. When you do that, the paper ends up getting filled out with more information about the class. Also, it is possible that it is a race specific class and of course this does mean you will learn nothing about if you don’t choose it."

"There is such a thing?" I didn't think that would be the case. I was willing to accept race bonuses, and that races did seem to excel in specific things, but to have classes that no other race can become? That didn't sit right with me for some reason.

Becoming an adventurer was supposed to be a choice that granted a lot of options and freedom. It seemed as though you would be helped and guided into what is best for you. How does that connect with not being able to be any class that you want. Isn't that why it is recommended classes, and not designated classes.

"You seem to be thinking hard over there so let me offer you some good advice on the matter. The wisdom of the ancients one could say, life isn’t fair." Cat comments.

"I suppose that I am. I do so apologize if I am being rude by not engaging you in discussion."

"You are free to say as much or as little as you want." Cat says and shrugs his shoulders.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Thanks Cat." I tell him. I did rather enjoy engaging him in conversation, but this felt like something that I didn't want to discuss, or at least not right now. I had to process it. Was it safe for me to select such an unknown class? What if it gave away what I was? Then again how would anyone know about it?

"However. As your guild leader I am supposed to make a request of you." Cat says after he let the quiet sit for a few minutes.

"Oh?" I ask, intrigued.

"I know that you have barely begun training as an adventurer and it is possible that more paths will become open to you as you grow. However... Would you be willing to officially register Shadow Wielder as your starting class in order to help us get more information about it. Also if you did not already know the rule is the rarer the class the stronger it is." Cat requests of me.

"I will." I tell him. I don't know how to register as a class but I am certain that Cat or Kay can direct me as to how to do this.

"You don't have to officially register with the Owl guild until right before you step into the dungeon for the first time." Cat explains.

"When I register as this class, won't that be disclosing it to a different guild?" I ask. I was rather confused after his earlier comments. Was this Owl guild something set apart?

"The Owl Guild members all have a spell placed upon them that keeps them from divulging information. They are the keepers of knowledge, and it can be beneficial to share with them anything that we learn about the dungeon." Cat says.

"Does the Dragon Feather's Guild often share our information with the Owl guild?" I inquire.

"We are one of the few who do consistently. We believe that if knowledge can save a life, then it should be shared it does help that they compensate you for it as well. Additionally, depending on the nature of the information it will remain sealed for a period of time."

"That all seems random, confusing, odd and arbitrary. Who comes up with such rules? They can use it to save lives, unless the life needs to be saved right after they get the information? That simply makes no sense and I do not agree with it."

"Welcome to bureaucracy, and since I don’t like it myself that is all I know on the matter." Cat says, ending the conversation. It did seem like a reasonable place to stop if he truly knew nothing else about them.

"Vita just told me that she hasn't heard of it, good job Ami for discovering a new class, and that I am absolutely adorable. Oh, and she says sorry that she is too busy to come and tell you that herself." Kay says, sounding a bit out of breath. Had he been running around all this time in an attempt to pin her down?

"That is okay. If she had come down I do believe that I might have fallen asleep mid-conversation which would be rather rude on my part. Do you not agree?" I ask them.

"I see what you mean. Alright. Goodnight then everyone. Oh, and Ami. For the weekend you are going to continue your lessons with me and Emmie, do the tea service, help provide music at night and train with Alice. That is your schedule until further notice." Cat informs me.

"And Alice agreed?"

"Yes, she did. Alright now unless you are sleeping in this bed with me or on the floor, out! I am going to sleep." Cat said and patted his bed.

"Haha, I will not be taking you up on your kind and obviously sincere offer." I tell him. He just laughs and I leave the room and go to bed.

“Psst, hey Ami do you think he also has a miniature cat sized bed hidden somewhere? I bet you he does.”

~

The final day of my, before returning to courses, training sessions with Alice came before I knew it. Cat, Kay, and I make our way over to the practice field only to be greeted by an Alice with a wicked smile, and Crestin standing next to her. I wonder what the plan was for the night.

"Is this why you cancelled our training session earlier today?" Kay asks Crestin.

"It does appear that way." he says, remaining vague.

"Are we sparring again Alice?" I ask her. I did not know how or if it was going to change with Kay and Crestin here, but I was ready to begin.

"Oh, we are. But we are going to be sparring in a different location. I got permission to use it. I had to do a lot of flirting so be thankful."

"Thank you." I say, even before she tells me where we were headed. If she thought that changing locations was going to be beneficial to my growth, I would believe her.

"Haha, you are so cute. Thanking me before you even know what our plans are."

Her and Crestin share a look and start laughing. Somehow, I have a feeling that this was not exactly a good thing. Even if it is not a good thing, it is an exciting thing. I couldn't help but get a rush of excitement and energy. I was very near vibrating with anticipation. Kay glances over at me and tilts his head in either confusion or curiosity. I don't blame him. He has not seen me like this before.

"What is the plan and why was I not let in on it beforehand?" Cat asks. It seems that he does not know what the plan is either.

"I didn't tell you on purpose. You are going to start going back into the dungeon with them, right Cat?" Alice asks with a smirk.

"Yes, I already went back in on the top floors in order to get more mana crystals for Ami." Cat responds.

"Yes, but only the top floors. Face it, you need a refresher on what things are like. Refresh your skills. We are going to help even you Cat. We don't want ANY of you falling in battle."

With their comments I believe that I was beginning to understand what we were going to be doing. I just didn't know the rules yet. I catch Alice's eye and she winks at me. Oh dear, I learned the happier Alice was the more dangerous the training was to be. I do believe that I may be going back to my courses with a few more bruises than expected. The thought made me shiver with excitement.

There is light conversation, and we follow Alice and Crestin to the room that she said to thank her for securing for us. I wonder what is so special about this room.

We walk for much longer than I was expecting before we come to a large domed building.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It simulates the top three floors of the dungeon. Don't worry though, there is nothing in there that can harm you. Aside from us." Alice says.

She takes a key out of her shirt and unlocks the door. When she pulls the door open, I am hit full in the face by a blast of light. It wasn't sunlight, candlelight, or oil light. It must be powered with magic ores. We had some of those for lighting back home and I know that they are not cheap. though I had been previously informed magical items were substantially cheaper in dungeon towns.

Even knowing that the light that was coming out of the room was eerie. It was so close to feeling like sunlight that I was left with feelings of displacement and disquiet.

I walk inside and find myself even more confused. It looked as though I was walking into a grassy field. There was a light, warm wind blowing, causing the grass to bend slightly, before popping right back up. It wasn't dank, nor dark or smelly. There was no water dripping from the ceiling. Instead, if I were to ignore the feelings of something being wrong then it would seem peaceful, serene even.

"Wow, this is just how the first floor of the dungeon is described in the books I have read! So nice, so bright, so eerie. Deceptively warm and inviting. And... Slimes! Ami, look, there are fake slimes! Those are fake slimes, right?"

Indeed, they were, and somehow they did not look to be entirely fake. I look over to Alice and Crestin for confirmation.

"Don't worry. They aren't real and they won't hurt you. They are manipulated by magic. Like this." he says before lifting up his wand and flicking it at the closest slime. It was a pretty blue color, sapphire maybe?

The slime started wiggling towards us. What were they wanting us to do with this? Were we to attack them? I shall not touch them until I know their purpose here.

"Like I said, they will not hurt you. They will not attack you. However, they can block and obscure paths that you might want to take. Your goal is to capture me and Crestin without killing any of these slimes. We shall deduct a point for each slime you destroy."

"Aren't we usually supposed to kill slimes?" Kay asks with his eye twitching, likely with the desire to cast fireballs.

He did not like being given rules that were contradictory to his understanding of how things are supposed to work. I could understand. Why bring us here if we weren't supposed to practice fighting monsters.

"You may end up with a monster tamer in your party at some point. One of you yourselves may end up creating a bond between yourself and a monster. Think of them like being a party monster." Alice elaborates.

"I see." I say, and nod. That made some sense. It also didn't make sense. It was the perfect battle ground. I look over at Kay and see that he was still not liking the do not hurt slimes rule. Did he have something against slimes other than them being monsters.

"Okay Kay. Just for you I will also get some red slimes moving. You lose a point for every blue slime you kill and gain a point for every red slime you kill. However, the game is not over until either four hours pass or you capture the both of us." Crestin explains.

"Whose team am I on?" Cat asks, wanting to know his place in all of this.

"Well let me ask you. Who is your current guild, who will be in your party when you go back to the dungeon." Alice asks, as though the answer should have been obvious.

Realization dawns on Cat's face.

"What does it mean to capture you and what are the rules of how to capture you?" I inquire.

"Disarm us and lead us over to that safe space there." Crestin said pointing over to a square that had not a single slime near it. So, this is the safe space.

"Is there any rules on how to disarm you?" I ask, meeting Alice's eyes.

"We won't hurt each other, the only real rule we have kept." Alice says and lets out a trademark wicked Alice laugh.