"Alright, everyone!" Karina exclaimed as James and Allison approached, standing beside her.
"Fighters!" James shouted, slamming his fist against his chest, "Fall in line!"
"Mages, come join me!" Allison spoke loudly, raising her hand and smiling.
"If you selected Supporter, you'll have me!" Karina said with a smile, curtsying.
The students quickly moved, heading toward their desired instructor. Most students would end up changing their archetype at least once before they settled on their class.
The students were required to log in for a few hours daily to attend classes regarding their archetype and practicing.
The first day was primarily instructional directives, and most students promptly ignored the instructions and ran off to explore the castle town.
"Excuse me, Miss Allison?" Shin called out, raising his hand while running up to the professor.
"Yes, um… Shin, how may I help you?" Allison asked after looking up his information.
"Could I receive the instructions you provided to the mage students?" He asked, placing his hand behind his neck and rubbing it.
"Of course!" The professor said with a smile, reaching into her sleeve, pulling out a bundle of papers, and snapping her finger.
A piece of paper from the bundle floated out and flew over to the young man as she asked, "You thinking of changing so soon?"
"Kinda, but not really." Shin said, looking over the paper and then turning around and running off and turning around and waving at her, "Thank you, Miss Allison!"
"No, Shin! Wait!" She exclaimed futilely as she held her hand out and shook her head, sighing and walking after him.
"Miss Karina!" Shin shouted as he ran toward the professor, waving his hand while she turned and smiled at him.
"Ah, Mister Shin, our esteemed number one student, how may I assist you?" She said, smiling and slightly bowing at him.
"Ehem!" Shin cleared his throat, "May I receive the instructions for the Supporters?"
"Oh no!" Karina covered her mouth with her hands, "Don't tell me you don't like being a Fighter!"
"No, Ma'am." Shin shook his head, "It's nothing like that, I promise."
"Shin!" Allison called out as she ran up to him, noticing Karina and greeting her, "Let me guess, he asked for the homework?"
"Yes, he did." Karina answered her, turning back to Shin, "Is everything alright?"
"Of course!" Shin said wryly, looking away and forcing a smile.
"James!" Karina called out, raising her hand high above her, waving her arm wildly, calling him over.
Shin sighed, shaking his head and covering his eyes with his hand. Jack came over and glared at the young man.
"Don't tell me one of my fighters has already gotten in trouble?!" He asked, reaching down and grabbing Shin's shoulder, squeezing firmly.
"Oh no!" Karina said, shaking her head as she waved her hands back and forth rapidly, "Not at all! Mr. Shin here is actually our top student!"
"Oh…" James said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice, dropping his head and releasing his grip on Shin's shoulder.
He raised his head a moment later, staring at Karina, "Well, in that case, what do you want?"
"Shin here asked both of us for our casework. We just found it really curious, and he was about to explain, but I saw you and thought you might be interested in learning about it!"
James turned and stared at the young man and back to the women and shook his head, turning around and departing without a word.
"I wonder what that was about?" Karina asked and turned back to Shin, "Now, explain!"
Shin turned to look at the departing instructor and sighed, "I'm going to be taking on the Rookie Challenge."
"Oh really?" Allison asked, placing her hand on her jawline and staring at the young man incredulously, "We haven't had a challenger in a few years…"
"Yeah!" Karina nodded, "The last one, Sam, could only get to level forty before she gave up."
Allison grabbed Karina, covering her mouth and shushing her, "Don't say her name! If James hears, we will be forced to listen to his whining all night!"
Unfortunately, James' hearing was excellent, and he came over, smacking Shin's shoulder forcefully and squeezing it tightly.
"Ahhhh!!!!" He exclaimed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose, raising his head to the sky, "The joys of youth!"
"Um… Sir…" Shin groaned, struggling to free himself from the instructor's grip.
"Oh no…" Allison sighed, smacking her forehead and shaking her head, staring at the ground and muttering, "Here we go…"
"Son, are you serious about the Rookie Challenge?" James asked, momentarily releasing his grip only to smack Shin's shoulder again and grip it once more.
Every player received the quest to reach level one hundred as a Rookie, but in the last ten years, no one has completed it, so no one knows what the rewards were.
Many attempted over the years, and some have gotten quite close; the highest rookie was level eighty, but even they gave up due to intensity.
"Ahhhh…. Y-y-yes… sir…" Shin struggled to answer through the pain, unable to free himself from the professor's grasp, regardless of which direction he twisted.
"Ahhhh!!!!" James exclaimed happily again, breathing deeply, "That's excellent! Hardcore mode and Rookie Challenge?"
James couldn't contain himself and released Shin, grabbing himself, falling over, and smiling contentedly.
"Ignore him." Allison ordered, walking past and waving her hand in a circle as a magical hand lifted James off the ground and pulled him as she departed.
"Here you go!" Karina smiled, handing him the paper he was searching for, explaining, "Don't worry about James; he is just really excited about personal challenges."
"Uh… Sure…" Shin said, grabbing the paper and staring dumbfounded as she ran after the other professors.
'What strange people…' Shin thought as he strolled inside, looking over all three pages. He found a quiet and isolated place.
He looked around repeatedly before confirming he was alone as he swapped his fighter armor to his mage robes and then equipped a staff, registering another set inside his armory.
He changed from his mage robes to his supporter robes and equipped a wand and grimoire, registering a third equipment set inside the Gates of Babylon.
'Fighter!' He thought, and his robes were suddenly replaced with his chainmail armor with a massive sword attached to his back.