The next morning, Kaiden and the rest of the trainees made their way to the lecture hall as the rain steadily increased. He wasn’t a fan of rain, and the lack of umbrellas in this world didn’t help his mood. Their rain gear consisted of a hooded cloak, which did a decent job of keeping them dry, but it wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t pouring yet, but the sky threatened to unleash a full storm soon enough.

Once inside the hall, Kaiden was surprised by how large the space was. Rows upon rows of seats climbed up toward the back, and the ceiling seemed impossibly high, supported by thick wooden beams that crisscrossed overhead. Massive, arched windows along one side of the hall let in the gray, rainy light, while sconces with enchanted flames lined the other walls, casting the space in a warm glow. The podium on stage was large, flanked by two massive banners—one with the insignia of the Dungeoneer Corps, the other bearing the emblem of the kingdom.

Davick nudged him and said, “Pretty big, huh? But I guess it makes sense since it’s supposed to fit all the trainees at once.”

Kaiden nodded, still taking in the sheer scale of the hall. "Yeah, no kidding."

They quickly found seats near the middle, where they could get a good view of the stage without being too close. The hall buzzed with conversation as trainees filled in, some adjusting their cloaks, others joking about the rain. Everyone had been told to bring their travel rations for lunch, just in case they didn’t want to brave the weather to get to the mess hall later.

After some time, the room quieted down as a sergeant made his way onto the stage and stood behind the podium. He was clean-shaven with short, dark hair and a serious, focused demeanor. His uniform was immaculate, and his eyes scanned the crowd like he was sizing them up.

"My name is Staff Sergeant Voss," he began, his voice carrying easily across the massive room. "And today, we’ll be talking about Combat Classes."

Kaiden glanced around the room, noting the palpable excitement among the trainees. Everyone, himself included, was eager to learn more about classes. The promise of unlocking a combat class was a significant milestone for any dungeon diver, and Voss had their full attention.

"We know that all classes are obtained through class tomes," Voss explained, his voice carrying across the hall. This was news to Kaiden. He hadn't heard of class tomes before, but was not overly surprised.

Voss continued, "We call them combat classes because they’re used for combat in dungeons. This applies to all roles—Strikers, Casters, Defenders, Bracers. Even a class that focuses solely on healing or support is still considered a combat class."

Kaiden’s mind wandered for a moment. He wondered if there were non-combat classes as well, like builders, crafters, or smiths. Maybe he’d ask Davick later, given his family’s blacksmithing background. If anyone knew about profession-based classes, it would be him.

Voss’s voice broke his train of thought. "Let’s start at the beginning. Having a class is a rite of passage for any dungeon diver and is expected once you reach Silver-grade dungeons or higher." He paused, letting the significance of that sink in. "Classes start at common, then go to uncommon, rare, and finally legendary, which you can level up from 1 to 5. Each class grants stat bonuses and abilities based on rarity and role. For example, if you start as a Blade Warrior at level 1, you can level up the entire class through combat all the way to level 5. Unlike your innate abilities, which level individually, your class will level up all of your class abilities simultaneously."

A ripple of excitement spread through the trainees as Voss grinned, clearly enjoying their reactions.

He let them murmur among themselves for a moment before continuing. "Now, common classes can be unlocked immediately, however, once we start talking about uncommon classes and up, that’s when class requirements come into play. Some uncommon classes have no requirements, while others do. But if an uncommon class has a requirement, it's usually simple and quite easy to fulfill."

Kaiden leaned forward, eager to hear more.

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"But when we get to rare and legendary classes," Voss went on, "things change. Not only are these classes incredibly difficult to find, but the requirements to unlock them are much more demanding. That’s why you might never see someone with a rare class, and especially not a legendary one. These class holders are the best of the best."

The room was electric now, the idea of chasing after these elusive and powerful classes setting everyone on edge. Kaiden's mind raced with the possibilities, wondering what class he'd eventually unlock and what kind of requirements he'd need to meet to get there.

Voss said, “Not to dash your hopes, but don't expect to get a class anytime soon. Classes aren't given all willy-nilly. Even a 'common' class is not something we have an unlimited supply of.”

Kaiden thought to himself that made sense. If classes were earned through dungeon combat, then obviously the class tomes were drops. With the mortality rate so high for Camp Thorne, it made sense that they wouldn’t give anyone a class right away. They’d be losing out on half of their tomes that could be better used by dungeoneers who had already proven they could survive a dungeon.

Voss went on, talking a bit more about different classes and how some even had to be given up to the Army for their top soldiers. He rambled on about how frustrating that was, given that those soldiers weren’t diving into dungeons like they were. After some time, they finally took a break for lunch.

Kaiden and Davick had brought travel rations and just ate in their seats, opting to avoid the mess hall while discussing everything they’d learned about combat classes. It was hard not to be excited. “We can just grab a hot meal for dinner,” Davick had said.

Everyone was animatedly talking about what class they might one day get, and it was hard to avoid getting caught up in the excitement. The idea of leveling up through combat, unlocking powerful abilities, and one day, possibly obtaining a rare or even legendary class, was exhilarating.

After lunch, Staff Sergeant Voss returned to the stage and said, “Now, let’s talk about non-combat classes!”

Kaiden's eyes widened in surprise. So there were non-combat classes, after all!

The staff sergeant began, saying, “We’ll only briefly discuss this because non-combat classes are only relevant to dungeon divers in one way.” He paused, scanning the room as confusion spread across most faces. “Yes, non-combat classes exist, but they’re quite rare. Now, you're probably wondering why that is and why many of you haven’t even heard of them. First, they’re rare because these classes aren’t necessary. Second, the class requirements are hidden. And third, the tomes themselves are expensive."

Voss started with the third point. "Non-combat classes are unlocked through non-combat class tomes. And you guessed it—these tomes are found in dungeons. However, all non-combat class tomes are undesignated. That means any tome could unlock any non-combat class depending on who’s holding it. So, when dungeon divers find these tomes, they sell them off right away. And merchants, in turn, sell them for quite a lot of gold."

So that’s how it works.

“Now,” Voss continued, “you won’t know if you’ve met the requirements for a non-combat class because an undesignated tome doesn’t show anything unless you’ve hit those hidden requirements. It’s revealed to you only when you touch the tome. For example, say a restaurant chef who cooks the same menu every day touches the tome, it might reveal an herbalist class—something he probably has no use for. But because he tends to a unique garden daily, he’s met the class requirements for Herbalist, while the Chef class might need something extra he’d never do in his daily routine. This brings me to the first point: it’s unnecessary."

The staff sergeant gave a small shrug, "Anyone can become an chef just by learning how to cook, just like how someone can become a blacksmith or a potter by learning the trade. They can be done without a class. While these non-combat classes provide obvious benefits, most laborers and crafters don’t see the need to spend the coin on a tome when they can do their job just fine without it."

Kaiden nodded, absorbing the information. This world just kept getting more interesting.

"And as for why non-combat tomes are so expensive," Voss added with a chuckle, "it’s simple—merchants make a lot of money just from having one in stock. Everybody wants to touch one, just to see what class they could unlock. And merchants collect coin for allowing them to do so. It’s like the golden goose of the dungeon trade."

Kaiden smiled at the thought. The whole concept seemed like a mystical lottery for tradesmen.

Voss continued with the lecture, touching on different topics here and there before finally wrapping it up with, “Now, the last thing to remember is that you can have up to four classes simultaneously! They can be any rarity, except for legendary classes—you can only have one legendary class.” He chuckled again and said, “As if anyone’s lucky enough to get their hands on a legendary tome, never mind two. That’s out of the question.

“Lastly, just an announcement. Tomorrow, every platoon is to meet up back at their normal meeting spots for practical training and dungeon tactics.”

Kaiden grinned. As much as he enjoyed learning in a classroom, the idea of getting out there for some hands-on training excited him. His body ached to be used, the long days of lectures leaving him restless.

Tomorrow should be fun.