As we were on our way to our destination, the atmosphere inside the wagon was silent. It was so quiet that it could lead me to being deafen. Holkin's on the other hand couldn't handle being quiet at that time, so he talked.
"Is there any other reason for you to go in Assendract, Aston?" Holkins asked.
"I have a goal, to be a knight. It was my ambitious dream ever since." I replied.
"A knight, as in an average knight who serves the village and fights in wars?"
"Not really, I have an ambition of being an upper ranked knight."
"Then that means you have chosen your path then."
"What do you mean by choosing a path? Is that even necessary?"
"Of course, aren't you aware that for you to become an upper rank, you need yourself to be specializing on a certain fighting class?"
"I didn't know that. I thought bei—"
"Being a knight can put you on a high rank in some way? Well, yes you could be a knight for the first part but as time passes, you should be deciding on what class you would be taking."
"Look, I have no idea what classes are you talking about. Are these the commanders of a certain army? Would you please explain to me so I could at least understand?"
"Good thing to reach our village, it'll take time. I'll explain everything to you then. First of all, being a commander is not what I meant by upper class. Yes, they're what you call upper class, but what I meant was special upper classes."
Holkins then brought out a manual from his kit.
"The knights you knew that serves the Lord are those who can solve a conflict between man vs man. These special class people are those who can deal with somewhat any supernatural causes. An example of this is the state of Gadafin right now. Noora, Fishmen, Catfish creature. All of those mostly can't be solved by mere humans. You need to be a special class to face this kind of problem. But as what you and the rangers did earlier, that means at least any knight could solve a minor problem that includes fighting with those fishmen."
"Now, we have categories when it comes to being a special class. There are those who specialize in magic, divine powers, melee combat, defense, projectiles. There are different classes within all of those categories."
"I'll start with those who specialize in magic."
"Wizard, as simply as it says they are spellcaster whose powers are related with any arcane magic. They are known to cast ice and thunder spells, or to disintegrate an enemy only with arcane magic. An example of someone who specializes in this class is Agia, our Arcanist."
"Pyromancers, they are those who specialize in conjuring or controlling fire. They cast flame to burn or blaze their enemies."
"Sorcerers are also those who cast magic but without the uses of spell books or tomes that wizards rely on. They are an unpredictable class. Most of the time, we can't even tell the origin of their power. Some sorcerers even wield their magic with their own souls infused with it, so it seems like the source of their magic is from their inner body, mind, and spirit."
"Druid, they respect nature among anyone else, gaining their magical powers from nature or from a nature deity. Their spells are oriented with nature and any animals— also having the ability to take form of an animal. When mastered, some can even have their natural form as an animal form. They also fall in the divine category as they worship gods of nature."
"Bard, as silly as it sounds, there are magician who plays the lute to unleash soothing music and often calms your allies and inspire them. The music of a bard has something with their music strong enough to help other people. When in combat, a bard uses an alternative music to fight against the enemy, and after they're immobilized, the bard comes up and attacks them with a sword or dagger."
"Oh, and I forgot to mention that there is those who specialize in dark magic. Starting with —"
"Necromancer, they are magic users who have the ability to control or conjure the forces of life and death. They wield dark powers to drain the souls of the living and use it to summon undead servants that obey every command the necromancer gives. A person who only started can only bring back any creatures equivalent to his/her level, while those who have mastered it can bring back any menacing creatures such as deceased dragons, giants, basilisks, etc."
"Warlock, are those who have a contract with underworld beings. They have connections with demon kings, devils, and evil entities. The magic and power they use are bestowed on them by the beings the warlock has contract with. Unlike wizards, warlocks can wield simple weapons such as a dagger as their secondary equipment."
"Hexer, are users who purely casts dark magic. They can be destructive, but as they cast spells, it consumes the soul they have. Their dark magic can be orbs, fogs, weapons, beams. Some of their spells even has the ability to curse, nullify, or weaken their opponent. They are known as the strongest dark magic users as their darkness power devours you, you'll have no way to fight against it."
"Let's move on with those who specialize in melee combats."
"Barbarian, are those who has the primitive instinct, rage, and physicality. They have the strength of animals when they attack, such as the power of a bear. Barbarians are more resilient when it in the midst of combat. They enter their berserk mode where rages take over them completely, giving them the abnormal strength and resistance."
"Guardian, are sworn defenders and fighters of our world. They are warriors who wield the magic and power of certain ancient dragons. There are only a few guardians known to exist. As a matter of fact, a guardian exists in Assendract. There's not much information about him but he is known as a warrior who fought tons of beings."
"Fighter, are known as the class who knows the basics combat style. Fighters are capable of using an axe, rapier, sword, long sword, spear, and many more. They also usually wield a shield and any armor as long they're comfortable with it. In short, they are superior combatants in battlefield or in a duel."
"Dragon slayers, as the name says it, they are warriors who has an immense strength and capable of slaying a dragon. Most of them wield a greatsword."
"Rogue, are capable of using variety of skills and have decent combat abilities. They mostly focus on stealth and deception. When it comes to combat, they choose being agile over brute strength, as they strike vital points of the body which will hurt the opponent mostly. But if they were in combat, they would rather choose to avoid than facing the enemy, for them to accomplish their missions easily. Daggers are usually the weapon of a rogue."
"Now, to those who specialize in divine powers, there are solely two—"
"Cleric, they are who wields the power of the gods, manifesting their miraculous powers. The gods does not give their power to those who only seeks it but only to those who are fully devoted to it. Divine magic can't be obtained through training or intense studying; it can be learnt through praying and devotion. Their magic can heal and help their allies from the harm that the enemy can cause. With the help of the gods, clerics can also unleash powerful divine powers against the enemy."
"Paladin, are those warriors who has the oath to uphold justice and the rights, to stand against the darkness, to hunt the manifestation of evilness. The gods they are devoted to granted them sacred power to do their duty. As they say, their power comes from commitment to what is right. Paladins do train to learn skills for combat and mastering weapons and armor. The power granted to them— to heal the sick and injured, to repel the undead and evil, and to protect the people who they fight for."
"Our last category, those who specializes in projectiles—"
"Locus , they are a special class of rangers, as you know the rangers you fought with earlier, they are on a different level with them. Locus are known for being more intelligent and agile. They are those who wield a bow as their primary weapon and their dagger as a secondary weapon. They choose to attack in a longer distance than any class to take over their advantage. Rangers are also a master of traps; they trap their enemies with vines, ropes, etc. They can imbue their arrows with magic, becoming dangerous when encountering a hidden locus in a battlefield."
"Trickster, are those who uses trickery as their specialty. They often throw knifes, dagger, and cards as their weapon against opponents. A trickster will never engage in a one on one straight fight, they'd rather choose to use their trick ability to confuse the opponent. They're very agile like the rogue and have escape abilities."
"Alchemist, they are those who specialize in the profession of alchemy. What they make is considered as their weapon. It could be potions, explosives, and other more. Their knowledge with alchemy is their strongest firearm as they can make miracle effects with it."
Holkins then closed the manual he was reading.
"That's where it ends, Aston. I do hope you now understand the classes that exist in our world." Holkins said.
"There are 18 classes existing then?"
"Exactly, you have many choices but you should choose what you are really into. Have you decided yet?"
"Not yet, I'm not entirely sure if what'll I choose."
"Well, as you could see, I make potions right? The truth is, I am training and studying to become an alchemist. It was my goal ever since I saw someone do alchemy. But as of the moment, I am only an apothecary, to help my fellows."
"Huh, I never thought of that. Would you hand me the manual?"
"You know, the barbarian, fighter, and the dragonslayer suits you, but here." Holkins then handed out the manual to me.
I browsed the book thoroughly, to examine and analyze each classes. It had illustration that represents what each classes wear and use, Holkins never mentioned this. The guardian and paladin caught my attention. Then I remembered there only a few who has the guardian class, so I thought that I had no chance having this class.
The paladin was now the only one that got my interest. As being a paladin can be learnt through training and devoting yourself to god and justice. I knew it was a hard challenge but I wanted to pursue being one. Ever since the incident in my homeland happened, the only thing I wanted is to fight against the wicked. Protecting my fellows is what I strive since all I've done was just watch my people suffer back then. I want to prove myself, that's all.
"Then I choose the path of a paladin." I said.
"Oh, is that so? That's great. Though as of now, there is none in our village that can train you on being a paladin." Holkins replied.
"Is a mentor needed to achieve it?"
"Yes, you can't become one if there's no one there to teach you the basics. There are several academies and paladin mentors out there, but here in country? You'll find a few, maybe a two or three. But no worries, talk to our mayor in our village. I'm sure he knows where you could find a mentor in our country. "
"That means, Agia also has a mentor?"
"She had one; it was her late grandmother, who died in the fight against Noora. Her grandmother was with the warlock but unpredicted events happened. Now, Agia is only learning by herself. She's refining what was taught to her."
"Aren't there any wizard mentors for Agia?"
"Believe me or not, with what Agia learned from her grandmother, and her to refine those in years. She's now above any mentors in this country— that's why she doesn't need one."
"That's great for her. I wonder how strong she is."
"You'll meet her sooner; just wait until we reach the village."
The wagon stopped as Holkins said that, it seemed like we have reached our destination.
"My fellows, you may leave the wagon. We have reached Cavoir." The driver said.
"Look at that, perfect timing. Shall we, Aston?"
We then got out of the wagon and landed on foot on a muddy path.