“Many of you come from different countries, cultures, social classes, and even races. Your diverse backgrounds means that you all have varying levels of understanding on many fundamentals about Classers. This is compounded by the amount of speculation and rumors that are spread about them. So, for all of us to start on the same page, we will be discussing the how’s and why’s of the system and the abilities we gain from it!” Instructor Adelphius said.
“Now, let us start with something simple. What is a class, and how does it differ from a rank? Is there anyone here who is confident enough of their knowledge to answer?”
A boy on the edge of the class raised his hand, and Instructor Adelphius pointed at him.
“You there, young man. Why don’t you introduce yourself and tell us your answer.”
“Yes sir! My name is Nisos Iphitus, and I also come from Syressa, sir! Sapient beings have classes and monsters have ranks, sir!” the boy answered in an obnoxiously loud and tense voice.
“Within these halls, I am merely ‘Instructor Adelphius,’ Mr. Iphitus. No need for the excessive formality! Now, as for your answer, you get half marks for that answer on the test. Monsters only have ranks, but sapient beings get both a rank and a class. It’s a common misconception, given that many people don’t bother raising their ranks. Can anyone else tell me why that is?”
Someone behind me must’ve raised their hand, as the instructor pointed at them.
“My name is Nicotris, of House Sept of Tamery. The reasons for why most people don’t raise their rank are that most people do not know about them, that they find it difficult to reach a new rank even if they do, and that the rewards for most people’s rank E evolution are hardly worth mentioning, assuming they failed to unlock special evolutions.”
“A comprehensive answer from Lady Sept! Full marks for that answer, but there’s plenty for us to unpack here. Let’s start with why most people don’t know about their ranks. Can someone tell me about that?”
Jezibel raised her hand, and the instructor pointed at her.
“My name is Jezibel Hiram, and I hail from a family of merchants in Tyr. People do not know about ranks because most of them do not know how to see their own status. To see your own status, you need to make use of an appraisal skill or spell on yourself. Some countries forbid this knowledge from spreading, while others are simply rife with misinformation, whether unintentional or malicious.”
“Good answer, Ms. Hiram! Knowledge of classes, ranks, and other system-related terms is sometimes considered sensitive information; specifically in the Latium Republic, some city-states in Iona, and Tamery, so it is spread on a need-to-know basis through the academies in many places. Guards, soldiers, adventurers, merchants, craftsmen, and all kinds of people who are classers need to attend an academy to learn about these things. Most low-class common folk obtain their classes and level them up subconsciously and lead lives that are rather monotonous, so they rarely get the opportunity or the need to obtain an appraisal skill.”
“Now, can someone tell me why it is difficult to reach a new rank?”
A beastman at the back of the room raised his hand, and the instructor pointed to him.
“My name is Ati Amasis, and I am a falconman from Tamery. The reason for most people being unable to reach a higher rank when they do know about it is that kills using class abilities go to the class rather than the rank.”
“You’re correct, Mr. Amasis, but your answer is incomplete. Would anyone mind filling out the rest of his answer?”
Jezibel raised her hand again, and the instructor pointed at her.
Seems like most of our class is either too shy or uninformed to participate.
“Humans do not have much in the way of stats and a complete absence of combat racial traits, so fighting monsters without a class is incredibly dangerous. Many classed adventurers die to monsters of the same or even lower rank, which makes the danger of an attempt to do the same without relying on a class that much riskier. People have come up with all sorts of methods to get around this, though the results were lackluster to say the least."
"Attempts to use enchanted gear or hired help are too expensive for most, with the former unusable due to the steep mana expenditure of the gear. With the latter, experience gain drops sharply based on contribution to the kill and the number of people involved. Killing large numbers of rank F critters like bugs will only get you to the standard, underwhelming Rank E evolutions. Even then, this method cannot be replicated for the rank D evolution as experience gain from killing lower ranked monsters drops sharply. There is simply no way around these obstacles for the vast majority of people besides simply punching and kicking monsters to death and hoping you live to tell the tale, so most simply don't bother.”
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“Excellent answer, Ms. Hiram! I have a feeling that you will do well in this class if you keep this level of attention to detail up!”
Jezibel tried to hide her satisfaction with the instructor’s praise, but it wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Now, can someone tell me why the standard rank E evolution for humans is ‘underwhelming,’ as your classmates put it?”
Nicotris raised her hand, and the instructor pointed at her.
“Rank F humans possess only the [Sapient Creature] and [Human Ingenuity] racial traits, while the standard rank E human only gains some stats, a modest increase in life expectancy and decrease in fertility, and a moderate increase to the experience gain modifier from [Human Ingenuity]. It’s not worth the effort and misery that come with evolving, particularly when classes have a much more immediate return on investment.”
“It seems this class has a lot of bright students. I might be out of a job soon at this rate!”
After a few polite laughs, the instructor carried on.
“Very good. Now, can someone tell me where beastmen fit into this context?”
Ati raised his hand again, and the professor pointed to him.
“Most beastmen start at rank E, with very few exceptions among beastmen nobles starting at rank D. As a subspecies of human, we possess the racial trait [Human Ingenuity], but its bonuses are significantly less compared to equally ranked pure humans. In exchange, we gain racial traits and attributes related to the beast whose traits we take after. In my case, I possess high dexterity and racial traits for flight and vision.”
“Thank you for sharing with us, Mr. Amasis! Would you mind telling us how often beastmen evolve their race and what options they tend to choose?”
“Most beastmen are unique individuals with different priorities, so I can’t give a clear-cut answer. That said, most beastmen do not evolve because it is only slightly easier to fight without a class compared to pure humans, and the experience is just as miserable. That said, it is true that there are much more beastmen who try to evolve into another species. Some choose to evolve back into a pure human of higher or even equivalent rank, due to weariness from oppression, inferiority complexes, or a desire for a stronger version of [Human Ingenuity], among a variety of other reasons. Others choose stronger species of beastmen to evolve to, hoping to gain better traits that fit whatever it is they wish to do.”
“Indeed. Many of the most powerful humans to live in recorded history were beastmen, which you will have the pleasure of studying about in history class. Much of their power did not just come from their class, but also from their rank. You would all do well to try and obtain an evolution and push through its agony; you will be capable of much more with a balance between your rank and your class, rather than just leaning on the latter. Now, does anyone mind telling us about special evolutions and how they differ from standard evolutions?”
I raised my hand, and the professor pointed towards me.
“My name is Kiara Azoth, and where I am from is not important. Special evolutions are evolutions that an individual can earn by accomplishing feats and meeting the conditions required to earn them. In my experience, only special evolutions offered an increase in rarity, while standard evolutions are always of the same rarity as their preceding evolution.”
“Another incredible answer! Rarity is a topic for another class, but since you’ve brought it up, can you give us a simple explanation on what it is and why it matters?”
“Rarity is a trait to classes and races that defines how powerful it is and how difficult the conditions to unlock it is – provided that the class or evolution in question is not a standard one that takes its rarity from its predecessor. High rarity classes and races provide more attributes and skills, and the skills in question are stronger than their lower-rarity equivalent.”
“Good job! Would you mind listing the rarities for us?”
“Sure. The rarities are identified by the color of the class or race in question. Common rarity does not have a special color and looks the same as any other text on your status. Purple is often referred to as uncommon, then comes blue, which is rare. Gold is legendary, and green is mythic. There is also the outlier of the red rarity, which is known as the forbidden rarity, which denotes evil, malicious, or dangerous classes and evolutions.”
“Thank you very much, Ms. Azoth! The forbidden rarity is also a topic for discussion in another class, but the one thing you should all take away from this is that you should not, under any circumstances, take a forbidden evolution or class. In fact, you are strongly recommended to report it and the conditions that allow for its availability, to aid us in documenting and safeguarding against them.”
“Now, before I continue with this lecture, does anyone have any questions so far?”
No one raised their hand.
“In that case, time to move on to our next topic…”
***
A distant bell’s ring sounded throughout the hallway, signifying the end of the current class.
“It seems that we’ve run out of time today. We’ll carry on from where we left off tomorrow, but for now, I suggest you lot go to the arena to attend your next class – combat training.”
As everyone began packing up and exiting the room, Instructor Adelphius signaled for me to approach his desk. As I did, he lowered his voice so that only the two of us can hear his words.
“I know that you are not enrolled in the combat training class, Ms. Azoth, but I recommend that you attend this one session regardless. I checked, and you don’t seem to have any other classes at the moment. While you may be overqualified, I still think you will still benefit from attending the class today.”
Huh.