Each of them had learned a special skill related to their species. After trying to learn them for a few hours. I gave up, it seems like I can't learn them… Which is fine, I didn't really expect to be able to learn skills from other species.

“With that out of the way, we're going to go over new classes for each of you. We'll also go over the rules to training in here. One, you are not allowed to go all out. If you do, you might destroy this room. Two, you can't use fire attacks, I know that is unfair to some of you… But we're inside a tree, the tree might be fire resistant but I doubt it is fire proof. Three, no sharp objects, you might cut through the tree and I have no idea if that will ruin the tree's ability to dilate time.”

We pair off, my other generals spar while I teach them each new classes. Sock learns guardian. Pokodo learns warden. Blue learns warlock, he couldn't learn witch doctor. I go to teach Darkclaw next but Red pulls me aside.

“Well, it isn't fair that I am always last since I was the last pet you've gotten. So I'll tell you something if you teach me next.”

“What are you going to tell me?”

“I have a class already, one that you don't have. So if you teach me right now, I'll teach it to you.”

“Which class is it?”

“Fire mage.”

I teach Red next, I don't mind teaching them in any particular order but Darkclaw and Sock seem somewhat agitated by this. She learns fire mage, illusionist, black mage, warlock and witch doctor. I tried teaching her witch doctor with little reason to think she could learn it. She managed too somehow. She kept looking at Blue and smiling, as if to say. “Hah, I must be better than you since I could learn something you couldn't.” After that, she taught me fire mage.

Class learned Fire mage passive skill Fire absorption- Able to pull mana from surrounding fire

Fire mage skill upgraded Fire spray--> Flamethrower- Conjures a powerful jet of flame in front of you

Would you like to learn True elementalist? 

Warning! You will lose several other classes by doing so.

What is this? I've never seen this before… I wonder which classes I'll lose… Is it going to be worth it?… I'll test it out, I just hope I don't regret it.

Awakened class learned True elementalist passive skill gained Elemental absorption- Able to pull mana from all surrounding elements

Classes removed Elementalist, Nature mage, Aqua mage, Wind mage, Fire mage

Class experience added to True elementalist

True elementalist level 1 to 53

Level 1 True elementalist skill gained Conjure elements- Can form any element out of mana

Level 10 True elementalist skill gained Manipulate elements- Can control elements and move them as you see fit

Level 25 True elementalist skill gained One with the elements- Can communicate with the elements

Level 50 True elementalist skill gained Elemental shield- Form a shield with all the elements blocking magic and projectiles over a large area

HOLY SHIT! WHAT!? I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! My classes were all lost to combine into a stronger than all parts put together class. All of my skills involved in each class are gone. I feel I could recreate them if I wanted to though with conjure elements and manipulate elements. I could make any type of healing rain or water, the fire and nature.

I could now manipulate the elements to form many various attacks. I could form miniature tornadoes. If I added fire to it, it could be tornadoes on fire. I will have to think up some attacks that combine all the elements together. I form the elemental shield, a small version. I feel like I could make a shield big enough to protect a large area. All of these new skills are instant compared to the two second cast time versions.

I also feel... More complete once I've learned it... Like a piece of myself I didn't know was missing, was finally revealed... I feel at peace with the elements, almost as if I can connect with them. I feel that I've calmed some of the negative thoughts inside myself by learning this class... Almost as if a weight has been lifted from my mind.

Darkclaw isn't happy I made him wait. He deals with it. I'm not sure what I should teach him, he could go without learning any classes and would still be my strongest pet… What should I teach him? I ask him.

“Well… I'm not sure which classes I should teach yo-.”

“PIRATE!… I mean, pirate would be one I should learn...”

“Alright, I'll teach you that, you can still learn more than one class though.”

“Let me think about which classes would be the best for me.”

I teach my dragon the pirate class… This brings up the bigger question. How to teach your dragon. He might be the first pirate dragon ever in the history of the world. Darkclaw asks a question.

“Can you teach me thief and fighter? I think scout and ninja would also be a good classes.”

I teach him what he asked for. He was able to learn everything up to scout, once he learned scout though. He spoke up.

“It says I'm at the limit now… Why can't I learn five like everyone else?”

“I'm not sure… Maybe it is because you are a dragon?”

“...DAMN! I should have learned ninja instead of scout!”

“Well there is nothing I can do, you've already learned it.”

Darkclaw is somewhat angry he couldn't learn the same amount as my other pets so far. I teach Morpheus next… Once again I have no idea what to teach him. I let him decide which classes he should learn.

“I'm not sure what I should learn master. I allow you to choose the right classes for me… I would like to talk about something else first… My… When you're men captured me, you took me away from my family… After the war with the pirates… I would like some time to visit them.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I-I'm sorry… I didn't know Morpheus. After we get out of here. Of course you can go visit your family. If you want, your family can move to our fortress and I'll promise their safety.”

“...Thank you master. I… I'm sorry to be an inconvenience.”

“I would never see you as that Morpheus. I understand what you're going through as well. Gobber is going through the same thing. I didn't know I was forcing you to do anything you didn't want to do... Even if you can't convince your family to move to our fortress... You should stay with them.”

Which classes should I teach him… He might be leaving forever… I should teach him classes that would make him better at protecting his family. I don't think he would fit the normal tank classes though. He learns knight, berserker, monk and blue mage. I had hoped he could learn blue mage, thankfully I tried to teach him instead of assuming he wouldn't be able to learn it. He, like Darkclaw, was limited to four classes. I teach him all of the blue mage skills I can. He can't learn a few, improved aqua affinity and night vision or poison spit. He doesn't really need them since he can transform into things that would normally live in the ocean or see well during night time.

Only Purple remains. The last pet to teach. I somewhat have a plan for him class wise but I'll let him decide. Purple starts to speak.

“Scholar! That is the main one I want to learn… Wait a second… How would I open the books… Wait! Do you have any classes that can manipulate things like books so I can read them?”

“If you level up scholar enough you can absorb books learning them instantly.”

“Well that's boring… Which classes would make me better at learning that isn't boring?”

“Well… You could learn stealth classes to help you be better at infiltrating the enemy bases. It would help you learn the secrets of our enemies.”

“Wow! That sounds interesting, lets do that instead.”

I sort of led Purple into believing that. Purple will be great for stealth missions. Being able to link people so we wouldn't have to talk to communicate. His telepathy and echolocation also makes him good at seeing threats even before they come into sight. I teach him ninja, wind mage, scout and illusionist. It seems like I can still teach classes I've lost through combining to make new classes. 

Finally done teaching. It feels like it has been an entire day already… I have no idea how I can tell how long it has been since we've entered though… Wait, I can communicate with elements. I speak to the time tree.

“Hello time tree, may I ask you the favor of telling me how long we've been here?”

I hear in a deep voice, almost echoing throughout the entire room. From the looks on my companions faces, I am the only one who can hear it.

“It has been eight hours.”

“What really? It has only been eight hours since we've entered… I've taught so many classes today though, I'm honestly exhausted from it.”

“It is the truth, you haven't even been here for half a day yet. You still have almost two weeks left.”

...I thought that would take longer… At least a day. I'm honestly tired to the point I should sleep before I pass out. I can teach many people at once but teaching each person one on one takes less out of me then a crowd. Just the sheer amount of new classes for each of my pets is enough to make me tired though. I head to sleep.

When I wake up, Darkclaw and Sock are fighting very loudly. Darkclaw is in a human form… Well, as human as a dragon can be. He still has his armor on, I thankfully made all their armors with the visual distortion that allows them to change sizes. They are sparring very intensely but it appears that neither are going all out. I call out to them.

“Hey, can you guys break for a second?”

Both stop and start to walk over towards me. I remove three feathers from Darkclaw. He winces in pain from the removal but says it isn't as painful as evolving or making the soul pact. Everyone else was also training together, I remembered to bring in some targets for them to practice against. Most of my casters can't spar, that still doesn't stop them from fighting.

Blue is chanting magic while Red runs away from a torrent of water cast towards her. She remains in front of it until the last second when the jet stream catches her. She is knocked off her feet but quickly recovers. Blue had begun chanting another jet stream in this time. She began chanting the spell for ignite. SHIT!

“STOP!”

I call out, it is too late. Both of their spells fire, Blue's starts to propel towards Red, Blue starts to pulsate with the ignite under his skin. I manage to redirect the water a few inches away from Red before it hits. While this is happening I also dispel Blue so he doesn't gain any permanent scars if he was injured anywhere. I yell out.

“What did I say!? You both just broke the only rules in here the first day we are in here. Don't go all out and don't use fire attacks!”

Red chimes in. “I just wanted to test out my new skills. Blue was helping me with this practice match.”

“No, like I said. We don't know weather or not the tree is… Are you fireproof tree?”

“Yes, the inside of me is also nigh invulnerable once the door are closed.”

“...Alright, it seems to be safe to both go all out and use fire magic in here… Sorry for making such a big deal out of it.”

They rest for a bit then continued to fight with renewed passion. Red is being outclassed right now. Blue has the advantage because he had most of his classes before today. She is still giving it her all. She isn't like a normal caster, continuing to run around to avoid the magic while also casting. More of a nimble fighter with magic than anything… Perhaps I should make her some specialty weapons.

Morpheus and Pokodo are talking about something. Leaving Purple by himself. I still need to teach him all the ninjutsu skills. I was too tired to teach him before I slept. I approach him and he stops casting his wind needles at the… Wind needles!? WHAT! That isn't the normal wind mage skill… What else can Purple do differently. The wind needles looked as if they were also covered in a poison, they also last for a few seconds after hitting the targets instead of dispersing immediately.

“Hello Purple. That is a unique… Skill you have their, what is it called?”

“It's air blade but I modified it slightly, I don't have a weapon to attack with. I launch them from the fingers on my wings. I can launch six at once if I flutter my wings at the target. It took some practice to get them all to fire in the same direction though.”

“How do you coat them in poison though?”

“I drip poison down my fingers and they're applied when I fire the needles.”

I'll have to try that later. I was getting off topic. I need to teach Purple some ninjutsu skills.

“Alright, since you don't have any ninjutsu skills. I'm going to teach you some to help you level it up.”

“I have a ninjutsu skill though.”

“Wait what!? Which skill is it called?”

“I have the bat contract ninjutsu called poison gas creation.”

...So because he is already an animal, it has chosen his animal contract for him already. I teach him the other ninjutsu skills that Nami had taught me. He tried to teach me his contract but I was unable to learn it. I'm surprised by all these skills I can't learn. I had a very high retention for learning until I've been in here. Perhaps it is because it has to deal with things I don't understand. Like the philosophers stones and ninja class. I hear an unfamiliar voice in my head.

“Darkclaw's new human form looks yummy, doesn't it?”