The town was as packed as ever with Soldiers and other classes of character, with NPCs and rabid dogs, and rats, with rubbish and unsavoury smells all around. Amongst it all were the bloody street fights that often took place.

Ragen's goal was clear: ignore the rabble, find an academy and begin his training as a Soldier. He did not know where the Soldier Academy was, and knew that no one would help him. But Ragen did not mind so much about being ignored any more, it meant that no one would bother him. There was safety in that. For now he would take in the sights, admire the world and hopefully find his way to the academy.

The odours and muck of the city were overcome by the chatter, laughter and the hustle-and-bustle. Ragen was still so amazed at how real the world was that sometimes even the worst of it was entertaining. He walked past houses of wood and stone, pubs and shops and seedy looking meeting places. There was little to no green here, it was all cold hard materials and dank. The NPCs looked just as hard, mean eyes on weathered faces. The players were much more varied, many attractive, boringly so, but some had real character: scars and burns, all sorts of hair styles and beards. One man was so large and round that it looked like he would never be able to reach and draw the sword at his hip. Surprisingly he did have armour to fit his size.

The day passed and night came. How much time have I wasted walking around? Darkness came much faster than he thought it should have. I've got to have been online for hours. He looked at the sky and the stars as they came to life, those in the horizon struggling to outshine the light from the city that polluted the sky.'

'If we keep heading towards the city centre, we'll start finding signposts for the school.'

Ragen was in ear shot of a voice of interest. He looked down to see a thin man with a goatee.

'I think...' The thin man continued.

'I might go to the Fighting Pits instead.' Another replied.

'No, the Pits are so... dirty!'

The Pits? An argument ensued, Ragen listened and followed at a distance. The goateed man won. Twenty minutes went by, the streets became narrower and then wider, longer and then snaking and then straight again. The group stopped at a wooden signpost that directed them to the academy, and soon they ended their journey at the open gates of a school complex. Tall walls surrounded a large training yard, and a multi storied building was at the rear. This was the Soldier Academy of Holta on Trine, and it was a dismal place.

A wide passage led into the yard, but was blocked by a table with a seated official of some kind. Ragen watched as the group he had followed approached the table and formed a queue. As he watched he realised that this was the registration desk for entry in to the Soldier Academy. The group finished their own registration and Ragen then approached the desk. Unlike other people, the NPC registrar recognised him as a player right away.

'Welcome to Holta on Trine's Soldier Academy.' The bespectacled man looked over the rim of his glasses at Ragen. 'Will you be registering today?'

'Yes, I think so.' Ragen coughed. 'First though-'

'Yes?' The NPC was impatient sounding.

'Well, what happens here?'

'Upon registration, each player becomes a member of the Soldier Job Class. Once entered in to the school, basic training and quests are given to advance the player to higher classes within the Soldier Job Class Progression.'

'What classes are a part of the progression?' Ragen questioned.

A sigh. 'The Soldier classification has three means of progression. Once having learnt to use sword, spear and bow, the Soldier can choose to specialise in one area. A Soldier can advance to the Swordsman class, specialising in the sword. A Soldier can advance to the Spear-man class, specialising in the spear. A Soldier can advance to the Bowman class, specialising in the bow and crossbow.' The man looked at Ragen as if that should be enough.

'And?' Ragen said expectantly.

The NPC took the hint. 'And then these classes each have two advanced class choices of their own. The Swordsman may choose to advance to the Duellist or Warrior class. The Spear-man may choose to advance to the Long Arm or Ground Shaker class. The Bowman may choose to advance to the Arbalestier or Master Archer class.' The registrar grunted. 'Are you signing up or not?'

Bloody hell. 'Yes, I am.' Ragen said, annoyed.

'Good. Name?'

'Rich-' Ragen caught himself. 'Ragen Mohon.'

The NPC wrote down his name on the registration slip. 'Very good, please enter the school.'

'Thanks.' Ragen replied. Every NPC I've met up to now has been horrible! I miss Reginald.

The yard was a dusty tumble of small stones and soil. Against the eastern wall were gallows with hanging dummies, tattered and ripped. On the west side were fenced sparring areas. The rest of the yard was used for drilling practice. The group Ragen had followed gathered at the eastern wall, talking to an NPC instructor. This light armoured man in blue was explaining to them the use of the three Soldier weapons. The sparring area was currently used by a few players, practising with sword against spear. Ragen counted thirteen here overall, including himself and the new group. He expected more.

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The sparring rings took his attention first, and he decided to indulge his curiosity before heading to the east side to talk to the instructor. Four Soldiers stood at one side of the ring, watching two duelling within. They were all men, older than Ragen. As he approached and stood a little outside of the group, they eyed him. 'What's a kid doing here?' One said. 'Kids aren't allowed.' Said another.

'I'm not an NPC.' Ragen responded. The four went silent. Confused. They continued to watch both the sparring and Ragen quietly. Ragen kept his eye on the match between two men fighting. They had not noticed him. A spear wielding Soldier was keeping a sword user at bay with thrusts of the tip. The sword user was attempting to strike the spear to the side, to gain ground on his opponent. The spear was pushed to the side, but its wielder recovered, circling the swordsman each time he attempted his move. Eventually the spear man lunged at the other and struck him in the leg. A red glow, a wound, appeared on the man's thigh. He went down to his knee and yielded the match.

'Anyone else?' The spear user asked, looking into the crowd. They said nothing, only nodded their heads towards Ragen. The spear man's face contorted. ' You?' He asked Ragen. 'You a player?'

'Yeah. What else?' He knew what they thought, but kept a strong front. Making out like his appearance was normal.

'OK... Fancy a match?'

Everyone awaited his reply. Ragen did not feel like being embarrassed here. 'Uh, no thanks. Maybe another time.' He said as he walked away to the opposite side of the yard, preferring to interact with the NPC instructor teaching at the dummies. He heard muttered conversation behind him as he left.

The instructor was busy watching the new group swinging swords at the tattered hanging dummies. 'Keep at it, you'll get the hang of the weight and balance.' He turned to Ragen as he approached. 'You, grab a weapon and learn to hit things with it. There's a war outside of these walls and you'll be needed!'

Ragen nodded and moved to a weapon rack at the side of the gallows. Knives, short swords, long swords, short and long spears, bows and quivers, all were collected in the racks. Ragen had no idea what weapon to try out first.

'You're short, with little reach, try the spear.' The instructor suggested.

'OK.' Ragen grasped a long spear and pulled it from the rack. It was heavy wood with a steel spike at the tip. It felt too heavy, unbalanced at the tip. His previous training at the start of the game had much lighter spears. 'This feels...'

'Let me guess: heavier than you're used to?' The instructor sniffed and wiped a nostril with his thumb.

'Yeah.'

'You likely trained with Archibald.'

'Yeah.'

The instructor laughed. 'He teaches with toys! These are weapons, remember that!'

'OK.'

The NPC pointed. 'Try to stab one of the dummies.'

'Right.' Ragen walked to a nearby dummy and held the spear in front of him. The tip was shaky.

'Hit it right in the centre.'

Ragen thrust forward. The tip leaned leftward and then down. Ragen could not hold the weight and missed the target completely. 'It's not as easy as it looks...' He tried again and barely grazed the left side of the hanging dummy.

'Your lead hand is weak, you need some strength!' The instructor pointed to the weapon rack. 'Leave the spears, you're not strong enough. Even the small spear would be useless, you're too short to use it. Grab another weapon, not a bow! If you can't hold a spear, you'll never be able to draw a bow.'

Ragen was annoyed. Not at the insult, but at the fact that it was true. He wasn't strong enough for any of the weapons, and his height and lack of reach would put him at a disadvantage in most things. I should have created an adult character...

The instructor saw his frustration. 'Don't worry lad. You'll have time to build yourself up, but for now you need to find a weapon that suits your current state.' He pointed to the two men and two women working the dummies. 'Look at this lot. The women struggled to use the bow and long spear. But this one...' He pointed to a willowy woman with blonde hair. 'She's perfect for the short spear, she has the reach and the accuracy. She'll be able to tackle infantry on the battlefield with ease.. He pointed to the other woman, another blonde, though larger in the shoulders than the other, and shorter. 'She's got some practise to do, but this one's perfect for the sword. She's fast and strong enough.

'The other two men are good with the sword, and the bow, but they're too impatient. They'd rather rush in to fight than think first. Better off in a spear unit.' The instructor turned back to Ragen. 'You need to decide on what your strengths and weaknesses are, and choose your weapon accordingly.'

'Right.' Ragen thought about it. 'What do you think I should choose?'

'I think you should have chosen some other job, maybe a Pistoleer or one of those flowery Druids.'

'There are other Job Classes?' Ragen blurted out.

'Are you kidding me?' The instructor asked as the others looked on with amusement. 'Of course there are other jobs, war is a flourishing economy!'

'I didn't know...' I should have known. 'Where can I sign up for another job?'

'Son, you've just signed up to the only job you're ever going to have, get used to it.' The instructor turned to the other Soldiers. 'I never said stop, keep swinging those weapons, I want to have to hang new targets up after this session! Not that we can, this dump doesn't have the funds for new ones...' He kept his eye on the others, but spoke again to Ragen.

'Choose a weapon and get practising.'

Ragen approached the rack and replaced the spear, he went to the swords and analysed each type. There were long bladed knives, short swords and long swords, great swords too. He reached out to grab at one, but his mind was running wild. He turned to the instructor. 'Are you sure I can't change my Job Class?'

'I am one-hundred percent sure that you can't change your job.'

Ragen grumbled. He reached for a weapon, a short sword. A double edged straight blade with a typical metal cross guard and wooden hilt. It wasn't exactly light, but it was better than the spear. The hilt was long enough only for one handed use, so Ragen would have to make do. He walked to the dummy he was using only a short time before. With his right hand he raised the weapon in the air and brought it down against the dummy. It was a clumsy and inaccurate hit, but a hit all the same. The dummy gently swung back and then forward again. Ragen slashed at it again, and then again and again. After his fifth strike against the target his arm was tired and he was panting. 'I guess I'll use this.'

'Good choice.' A voice came from behind.

Ragen turned around to meet this person. He recognised him from somewhere, but couldn't recall. Then it hit him. Tall, scruffy blond hair, excitable look in his eyes. It was the man that had chased him down at the end of his previous gaming session.

'I've been looking for you.' The blond man said with a broad smile.

Oh no... Ragen took a deep breath. I think training will have to wait.