On Monday, Greyson arrived early for his class. He knew that the test would take a toll on the recruits and wanted to comfort them. What he had done was brutal. No one questioned that. However, this was one of the few parts of the class that the teacher wholeheartedly agreed.

  Calvin had seen many new explorers getting hurt during their first dangerous hunt. They couldn't overcome the shock of something awful happening. More often than not, that resulted in an early retirement. And those were the lucky ones.

  He was deep in thought when the first recruit arrived. To his surprise, it was Mark. He greeted the man and looked at the clock. It was 6:49. That was only one recruit to come back so far, but there was still time.

  Greyson tried to keep himself busy, confirming everything would be ready for today. Yet, he kept looking at his tablet, more specifically at the clock. It was 6:53 when more recruits arrived.

  Anaya first, then Tiffany and Kenjiro. The three of them seemed to be fine. But Carlos, the fourth member of the group, was nowhere to be seen.

  'So much for someone who didn't want to hide,' Greyson thought to himself.

  A couple of minutes later, Alex, Leo, and Blue walked through the door. Greyson tried to seem calm, but he was worried. There were still a few recruits that he hoped would come back.

  Bonnie had gotten two evolved skills in the first days of training. She had a lot of potential. Then there was Percy. The man seemed to be very meticulous in his work. He had the makings of a great crafter. The last recruit he was thinking about was Hera. Aside from her skills, there wasn't much special about the woman. But she had a fire Greyson hadn't seen in a long time.

  At 7 sharp, Bonnie walked through the door. She still looked a bit scared, but she was here. Before starting class, Greyson gave her a few moments to settle in. Somewhat saddened that the ones he was paying more attention to were not here.

  "All right, I hope ye all had time to think about what ye want to do. If ye still have any questions, now is the time. The training will be different from now on," Greyson said.

  Almost as a reflex, Bonnie raised her hand. The teacher gave her a nod, confirming she could ask her question.

  "Mr. Greyson, sorry. I have two questions. First... are we going inside that room again?" Bonnie asked.

  The whole class got silent, even their breathing seemed to stop. The idea of going there again was terrifying for most recruits.

  "No, ye don't have to go there again," he said before turning to Blue, "unless ye want to. In that case, Ah can pull some strings."

  The tension in the air dissipated a little. Every recruit was still on edge, but now they seemed a bit more relaxed.

  "The second question... if I keep doing the training, can I drop out before the final exam?" Bonnie asked.

  The question surprised Greyson. Bonnie was really smart, and to come back here she was already brave enough to go inside the MAZE. The teacher considered the question for a few moments.

  "I believe ye can, yes. No rule says ye can't drop out just before the final test. But are ye sure ye want to waste a whole month doing this?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He knew that if she pushed herself too hard, it would end badly.

  Bonnie nodded.

  "Yes, if I'm confident by the end of the training, I'll do the final test."

  "Fair enough," Greyson said with a smile.

  He answered a few more questions about the test afterward and started to explain his plans for the day. A few seasoned explorers were coming over to show a few things about the roles. That way the recruits could know more about what roles were before choosing the path they would follow for the rest of their lives.

  Halfway through his explanation, there was a knock on the door. He frowned and went to the door, opening it. It was Hera. She was panting and covered in sweat.

  "I'm sorry I got home really late. My alarm didn't wake me up." Hera said after catching her breath.

  "Yer lucky, lassie. Today's class will be different. Go to yer seat," Greyson said with a serious face.

  In reality, he was quite happy. It had been a long time since he had this many recruits stick around after the test.

  "Now, as Ah was saying before being interrupted," Mr. Greyson glared at Hera just as she sat down, "Does anyone here knows what a role is?"

  Anaya raised her hand, "Mage is a role," she had a smug expression of someone who knew she got the answer right.

  "Yer not wrong. But Ah didn't ask ye to name a role, Ah asked what roles are," the teacher replied, making the woman deflate almost instantly.

  Tiffany was the next to take a stab at the answer, "Role is kind of like your job. Like a class in games, right?"

  "That's a good description. At least the class part. Any role can have any job. Mages can be tanks or scouts, or bankers, or guards. It doesn't matter. But like a class, a role will give ye access to a certain set of skills. Skills available only to your own role. No other role can access those skills no matter how hard they try." the teacher explained.

  "That's very much like classes in a game," Kenjiro nodded.

  "Games actually took inspiration from that part of the System. Early on, the first prototypes wanted to use roles as well, but the Guild vetoed them. It was too close to what we actually use, and that could cause problems. Especially since it's something that we get as soon as we try to enter the MAZE."

  "Mr. Greyson, in the video the guild keeps playing, it said that it wasn't always like that. That roles came to be one day. Why is that? Did we take long to find the skills, or it was something else?" Bonnie asked.

  Hera was a bit surprised. She never considered those questions but they made a lot of sense. According to the video the Guild played all the time, they had created the roles a long time ago.

  "Good catch. I'll share you one of the Guild's secrets. No one ever found these skills, the System created them," the teacher said, shocking the whole class.

  "Before the roles, explorers would just group up asking about each other's skills. Eventually, similar people would gather and realize that they had one basic skill from which all other skills revolved . After some time, the System seemed to realize that and changed things to speed up that process. However, when doing so, it also combined specific skills into one to make what we call today role skills. Part of that included making those skills exclusive for a specific role."

  "Why?" Blue asked, "Why did the System make that restriction?"

  "No one really knows. After all, even to this day, many of the things the System or the MAZE do are still a mystery to us. However, what everyone accepted as the official reason is balance. Everybody understands that the system is always fair. If it gives ye a hard challenge, it will give ye a nice reward. Records show that the original versions of the raw skills were nowhere near as powerful as what we have today. So many accept that as the reason why we have that division. It was the price to pay for a powerful ability."

  "Hang on, are you saying the System changed things? It can do that?" Hera asked.

  Mr. Greyson just nodded.

  "Many believe the System is always growing. And honestly, Ah agree with that. Funny right? We all think the system was always there the way it is today. But if ye think about it, it makes sense. A long time ago we didn't have written language, yet now the system shows up as text. Computers and tablets were human creations. Today, the system connects to them to share its information. It makes ye wonder how it will look like in the future, doesn't it?"

  Having finished his explanation, the class was awestruck. With such basic knowledge being changed at a fundamental level, the recruits were rendered speechless. Taking advantage of the moment, the teacher guided them back to the elevator. The class would be in one of the underground training rooms again.

  Arriving on the underground floor, the group was greeted by Helena, who informed them of a change in the room they had reserved. Shortly after, they arrived at the biggest room available.

  The clerk quickly turned to the group and started speaking, "Welcome everyone. We are having this class today in what is called an ATR. Or Advanced Training Room. These puppies can be a massive help when practicing and learning new skills, but for today the only thing that matters is that they are sturdy."

  Helena explained, keeping a tour guide persona. Hera couldn't help but find it weird. She wasn't used to seeing the woman like this.

  "Wow, if this room is so amazing, why were we wasting time with the dummies?" Mark said while thinking out loud.

  Most recruits were thinking about the same thing.

  "Watch it, laddie. Ye don't wanna start something ye can't finish," Mr. Greyson snarled.

  "Now, now. Be nice, Calvin," Helena intervened, " The ATRs use condensed mana to function, so using them is a bit expensive. That's why only part of the training is done here. After that, to use one of these, you have to rent it. The basic ones are not too expensive, and this one.. Well, it's better not to think about it for now."

  Before the class could ask more questions, the door opened and seven people came in. They were all wearing explorer gear and carried their weapons on their backs.

  "Looks like they are all here already. These are the explorers who will help us today. With all of us here, we will tell ye about the nine roles," Mr. Greyson said.

  Seeing that the class was still starstruck, the teacher clapped loudly, "Well, Ah guess, Ah should start. Some of ye might already know, but Ah'm a fighter. The main skill we get is called Fury. With it, Ah can strengthen my attacks or give them other effects. It can also increase the power of some skills."

  Greyson pressed a button on his tablet, and a golden dummy appeared in the room. He took a sword that was by the side of the room and struck the target. The first time it looked like a normal overhead swing. The second time, however, reddish energy swirled violently around the blade of his sword. When he struck the dummy, the whole room seemed to shake with the impact.

  "Fury works a bit differently for each person. To me, the angrier Ah get, the harder Ah hit," Greyson finished his explanation, and without a pause added, "And the first one to make a superhero joke gets smacked. Who is next?" He asked, turning to the explorers.

  Helena stepped forward, "Let me do it. They already know me."

  She walked towards the dummy and turned to face the recruits.

  "I am a mage, the skill we get is called Sync. The skill makes our mana, or magical energy, merge with the element you use. Allowing you to use stronger versions of spells from your element. Magic is a bit tricky, you need to use a specific formula to use it. Each mage uses it in a different way. I, for one, find it better to picture my mana as thread while I weave it to form the spell I want. With that, I can do this."

  Helena made a glowing sphere that looked like it was made of diamonds, refracting the light that passed through it.

  "My Sync turned half of my mana into shadow mana. And if I use that in this spell…"

  The sphere darkened almost instantly and started to ooze out shadows. The light in the room seemed to try to run away from it. Helena closed her hand, and the spell dissipated.

  Immediately after, she conjured two shadow spears above the dummy. The first seemed to be a smooth spike, the second looked like a halberd that dripped shadows from its edge. With a flick of her hand, the spike hit the dummy, vanishing after the impact.

  On the halberd's turn, the impact created a small explosion, covering part of the room with a thin layer of dark smoke on the ground. As if someone had just poured hot water onto some black dry ice.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Unlike all other role skills, Sync has one drawback. When your mana changes to a specific element, your ability to use its polar opposite gets hindered. For instance, since my element is shadow. I have a hard time using light. Undine, the Third Hero, was a fire mage. She probably had problems using water. Some mages focus their spells on a specific element to control that change in mana. There are even a few who managed to have 'pure mana'. That means mana that is not bound to any element. But I'm already getting too much into specifics. If any of you decide to become a mage, feel free to ask me for some pointers," Helena winked at Hera after saying that, which made the recruit smile.

  Hera looked at the other explorers. So far, being a mage seemed to be the most interesting role of them all. Wondering what the other roles could do, she stared at a man with a gray beanie. He seemed to be the less imposing of the bunch. He had a necklace with what looked like a small watch as the pendant, a brown shirt that looked wrinkled, and he seemed to carry a short sword on each side of his hip. Of all the explorers, he seemed to be the most carefree of the bunch. For some reason Hera couldn’t stop looking at him.

  "Who's next?" Mr. Greyson asked the group of explorers.

  There was a small pause. The explorers looked at each other like kids during a high school presentation. A strong woman with bulging muscles, a sleeveless blue vest with fur on the trim, light blue leather pants and short blue and white hair stepped forward.

  "By the system, people. We are just here to show the recruits there is no need to be nervous," she turned to the recruits, "Hi there, I am-"

  "Janna Ivanova! Also, know as Frostbite," Blue said, cutting the woman off, and almost jumping forward, "I'm sorry, it's just... I'm a huge fan!"

  All the recruits stared at the girl. Janna just watched the scene with a big smile on her face.

  "And who is that?" Tiffany asked.

  "Are you kidding? Janna Ivanova is one of the best explorers in the world! She is ranking 73 among the controllers. She gained the title Frostbite when she held down a passageway for two days on her own against a horde of fire breathing monsters. When the backup finally arrived, they say even the flames had frozen around her." Blue replied excitedly.

  "Two days? Ha, those rumors really get out of hand." Mr. Greyson commented.

  "You really are a killjoy. Aren't you, Calvin?" Janna replied.

  Blue stared at Frostbite with a worried expression.

  "What is your name?" Janna asked Blue.

  "Pamella Blunt, but you can call me Blue," she replied, almost giving the explorer a salute.

  "Well, Blue. The story you heard is a bit exaggerated. First, I didn't freeze any fire. I froze a few monsters before they could use their fire breath. Second, it wasn't two days, but eight hours. If it were more than that, I probably would have died there. Last, even though it is a good story. It only happened because I didn't have any other choice. There was a rampage going on, and no one else could help me protect that passage. If we let the monsters go through, they would destroy everything and kill everyone in the city." Janna explained.

  The recruits were amazed by what she had done. No matter what anyone wanted to say, holding off monsters to save a city was an heroic deed.

  "Did you really risked your life just to save a city?" Anaya asked.

  Janna replied with a smile, "Sometimes we have to protect those who can't protect themselves."

  Most of the recruits looked at Frostbite with new eyes. They were in the presence of a bona fide hero.

  Yet, Hera couldn't help but feel guilty looking at Janna. She was worried about hurting herself inside the MAZE. But that woman was willing to go to such a length to protect someone else. Looking around, Hera noticed that Helena was frowning while staring at Janna. But before she could even consider the reason, the controller continued with her explanation.

  "Back to the subject in question. I'm a Controller. Controllers, as the name says, can control the battlefield. The Control skill does nothing by itself. But you can use other skills with it to change how the combat will play out. We are split into magic and physical types. Magic types can use effects like slowing down monsters or creating magic walls to change the landscape itself. Physical types, like myself, can control the target of the monster and make the attacks aimed at us be weaker. As it is with all roles, each person can do it differently. My Control skill lets focus on using ice to slow those who get close, and even hurt the ones that hit me."

  Janna walked in front of the dummy and turned back to the group.

  "Calvin, Helena. Can you help me with the demonstration? Just hit me with the attacks you did before. Don't worry, I can take it." Frostbite said with a cocky smile on her face.

  Mr. Greyson grabbed his sword and gathered that reddish energy on the blade. While that was happening, Helena raised one hand, and five halberds dripping out shadows appeared above her. Seeing the two getting ready to attack, Janna flexed her arms, and an armor made of ice appeared, covering her body.

  A sight like that was already weird enough. Still, the oddest part was how the ice was moving. It would bend without breaking while Frostbite moved, as if it were part of her.

  "I'm ready," Janna called out.

  A few seconds passed, and Helena brought her hand down. Each halberd flew towards the controller, followed by Mr. Greyson. A red energy around his blade seemed to gather the shadows dripping from the magical weapons. The spell struck frostbite, creating that small smoke explosion, followed by Mr. Greyson's jumping swing.

  The impact was so strong that Hera, Bonnie, Mark, and Tiffany fell to the ground. While the other recruits had forced themselves to hold their ground.

  When the smoke cleared out, Janna was holding Mr. Greyson's sword with one hand, while the other was covering her face. There were three dark spots on her forearm, in the places the halberds hit. Even with such strong attacks, the armor had barely cracked. The biggest damage seemed to be around the hand she used to block the sword. Janna smiled and walked back to the recruits with her armor still activated.

  "This is a type of block skill that I learned thanks to my controller role. It has some elemental magic on it because, as I'm sure you all know, the skills you learn are not limited to the role you pick."

  Hera was impressed by the display. However, being a controller meant either thinking about the places you were and acting fast with the changes or putting herself in risk at all times. That role seemed to be a bad fit for her. Blue, on the other hand, seemed to have found her calling. Her eyes were sparkling so much they could probably turn off the lights in the room.

  "That pumped me. I'll go next if I can try to hit you, Ms. Ivanova."

  A short-haired woman wearing a black hoodie stepped forward. She was also wearing a black pair of pants and carried two daggers on her hip. Hera also noticed that the woman had a small piercing on her eyebrow.

  "Sure, it's been a while since I practiced blocking. Anyone who wants can try to hit me," Janna said while walking towards the dummy.

  The short-haired woman turned to the recruits.

  "I'm Mona Al Ley, an Assassin. My skill is called Assassinate, and it improves both attack skills, hiding skills, and any skill you would use on an assassination attempt. The better I hide, the stronger my attack becomes. Even though the name sound ominous, the skill basically asks you to use hit and run tactics. It makes you focus on one big attack, and then move back to prepare the next."

  She turned towards Janna, who gave Mona a nod. The assassin vanished into thin air. They were in a big open room, but none of the recruits were able to see her. A few moments later, Janna turned around and blocked a dagger coming towards her left shoulder. Only after the weapon made contact Mona appeared hovering above the Controller.

  The assassin stepped back and disappeared once again. This time, however, Janna seemed less relaxed. She looked around, searching for her assailant. Suddenly, Frostbite spun around and blocked a dagger aimed at her neck with her forearms.

  "Damn, I thought I had you," Mona complained.

  "It was close, but I heard the dagger coming," Janna replied with an approving nod.

  The two of them walked back towards the recruits and showed the damage to Janna's armor. The first strike had made a small dent in the ice, but the second managed to cut almost halfway through the arm guard.

  "As I explained. If your target can't notice you, Assassinate gives a big boost to your skills. And if you have the right skills, Assassinate can also help you hide even more," Mona finished her explanation.

  "Now that the flashy group is done, I think it's my turn," A dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and thick glasses walked forward, "Unfortunately. I don't have a way to show my skill, so you will have to take my word for it. I'm Darrel Fowler. A Researcher. Our skill is called Learn. And as the name suggests, it helps you to learn about things."

  He took off his glasses and started cleaning on his white shirt, "You have a handy database of everything you've already learned about the subject you are looking at and some tips on what is missing based on your own knowledge. You might think that is useless since things like math or physics are large subjects. But the skill can break the subject down into smaller parts. And not only studies. Equipment, skills, monsters, Learn can help us improve our knowledge of anything."

  The man put his glasses back, "Although not as glamourous as other jobs, researchers created or discovered most of the skills we know of today. We are also the role most suited to use magic, aside from the mage itself. In addition, we can study skills to better understand how they work, and the paths available for a possible evolution."

  It wasn't an exciting explanation, but Hera understood the value of the role. In fact, if she became a Researcher, she probably could help Helena a lot more than if she were a mage.

  Seeing that no one had any questions. Darrel felt satisfied with his explanation and walked back to the explorers.

  "Ok, I'll go next, "A man with a thick beard, wearing a white thawb and a trucker's hat walked forward.

  "Bros and brodettes listen up. Jasper Alloways here, and I'm a Crafter. That means that I make things. The skill we learn is called Blueprint. Basically, it lets you break stuff down and put your own spin on it. The better you get with that skill, the more crazy shit you can pull with it. A buddy of mine is already at a point where he can do some really freaky stuff. He made this staff that if you spin it, two blades come from the edges. If you tap it, it turns into a big ass nunchucks and there is even a button that makes a straw pop out so you can drink some water. Really boss stuff. If you all ever need a commission, hit me up and I'll put you two in contact. Or just gimme a call if you wanna hang, cool?"

  Hera was a bit taken aback by the explorer. She wasn't expecting someone so informal to be talking about the skills.

  "Bro, does the blueprint tell you about how to make it, and what material you need? Or it's just like this is how the thing is, deal with it?" Mark asked. He seemed oddly comfortable talking to Jared.

  "Nice question, man. It gives you, like, the full cake recipe. What you need, how to make each part, and then how to put them together. After you get good at it, you can check other stuff you find for compatibility with the blueprint you want. Like, if you make an iron sword, you can check on how well it would turn out if it was made of gold. After that, you can even add more stuff to make it your own, you dig?"

  Mark was nodding with enthusiasm. Hera never expected him to be interested in crafting.

  "Also, I don't really need the materials to make this stuff. Just a bit of mana an poof. But if I want to make something really good, I should do it by hand. Skipping to the end doesn't let me use other skills on the thing, ya know?" Having finished his explanation, Jared walked back.

  Without missing a beat, a woman in a green tunic and brown pants walked forward," "Hello, I am Shi Cheng. I'm a Hunter. Our skill is called Hunt. It lets you learn more about your enemy before fighting it. The more you learn, the stronger your attacks will be. Not as strong as a controller who marked their target. But they only do this with one creature at a time, Hunt lets you learn about the species as a whole. You will be able to recognized tracks, markings, and signals of a species you already found easily. It also helps you discover its weaknesses and strengths. Most hunters use a bow or some ranged weapon, but that is just personal preference."

  The huntress showed her compound bow. It looked like it was made of something other than metal, but the movement it made was the same.

  "Does Hunt affect your skills too? Or is it more of a passive effect?" Leo asked.

  "Both, some skills gain bonuses from Hunt. Not only attacks, but things like Mapping and Hide too. But your attacks, even without a skill, can deal more damage to creatures you understand properly. And not just you, but your entire party can gain that benefit," Shi Cheng replied.

  Leo seemed to be deep in thought. Hera always pictured him as a fighter, but a hunter could suit him well too.

  A man in a gray shirt filled with red stains approached the group. He had messy hair and an unkempt stubble with a few holes spread around his chin. He also had large bags under his eyes.

  "I'm Gérard and I'm a Healer. We heal people. Sight is a skill that shows us how badly wounded something is, and the worst off the person is, the more we can heal them. If you think that is nice, you are wrong. You can end up being able to see how close to death everyone is. I can even tell you how close you are. Do you wanna know? Can you handle knowing how close the Grim Reaper is from you and from everyone you love?"

  The man started his speech slowly but got angrier with each sentence. By the end, he was yelling at the recruits. Helena cut him off, placing her hand on his shoulder.

  "Gérard, sweetie, I think you should visit the healers. They can help you rest for a while. I'll drop by later to see if I can do something for you, ok?"

  The healer just gave a weak nod and left the room. The recruits were all disturbed by his reaction.

  "Don't think Healers are all like that. He just got a very strong skill and is having some trouble adjusting to it. Don't worry, seeing death is not something anyone can do. He just sees each person's general. And when you live in a world where almost everyone has some kind of disease is hard to not be overwhelmed. Also, healing is not omnipotent. To heal diseases, you need to understand them like a doctor. And to heal wounds in battle, you use a different type of spell known as a battle heal. That only works for a short period after you were injured, but it can even reattach limbs."

  Helena explained the situation for the recruits, trying not only to calm them but also not letting Gérard's reaction affect their mind about the healer role and turned to the last person in the group," Now, I think we just need to hear from Omar."

  "Aye aye, miss. The name is Omar Deeb, and my role is Explorer. If you know about the story of the roles, you might understand that they were created when groups trained together. The thing is, not everyone wanted to do that. Some just wanted to learn everything. When the roles appeared, the ones who had already learned more than one group of skills couldn't be placed into one of the other roles. Everyone thought they got the short end of the straw, but it wasn't like that. After a while, every Explorer that went looking for role skills figured out that we can learn all of them."

  Saying that, Omar activated a skill similar to Janna's. A soft glow covered his body like armor. It wasn't nearly as impressive as the full-body ice armor, and there were a lot of places that weren't covered by light. After that, he disappeared. The recruits kept looking around for him while the explorers followed an invisible man walking around. Omar reappeared behind the recruits.

  "The thing is, our role skills can never be as strong as the original ones. And the more we learn, the harder it is to learn new ones. I have four, Assassinate, Control, Sync and Fury. And I honestly don't know if I can learn a new one. I mean, I can, it's just going to take a lot of time and resources to do it. Even then, the version of those skills I can learn are about half as effective as the ones the original role has."

  Omar walked to the front of the group, his long black coat fluttering with his steps. The man pulled a small wooden box from a pocket and opened, revealing a golden watch with five hands, each with a different color.

  "We also get one last thing. An item tailor made to help us. Even if some are similar, no two explorers will have the same item. Mine is this compass. It shows me a type of radar around me. It can tell me where some enemies, where my allies are, and now it even shows me the general direction of whatever I'm searching for. As long as I have an idea of the place. It's not omnipotent. Usually, the item we get is the thing that will help us the most." Omar finished his explanation before going back to the group.

  Hera was intrigued. Being an explorer seemed very interesting. Her stats were all the same, so that could even help her. However, that meant she would take more time to repay Helena. Then again, having all role skills would be very powerful on someone who had the same value for all attributes.

  That being said, the thing that she was most curious about was the item. If she became an explorer. What item would she get?

  Want more? Next chapter is already available for Patreons!

  Tiers:

  $3 Explorer: Advanced chapter + Side Stories

  $5 Gold Card Explorer: Everything Above + Book 1 rewrite early access

  $10 Legacy Holder: Everything Above + create your own MAZE/ Energy Eater character

  $35 Guide: Everything Above + create your room, guide, and 4 chapter story arc

  or buy me a Ko-fi

  Join our Discord!

  Massive thanks to our amazing Patreons:

  Guide Tier: Lemon Ghost, Dr Dankness, Personssess

  Legacy Holders: Lillith Ophidia, NessaroseDyer

  Gold Card Explorers: Faeolin the Wild Elf, Jinx, laciw, Eric M, A.b, Kaouenn, Someone

  Explorers: Giuseppe, Theredescare77, Matt, Will C, Pltergeist, Nix, Frightful6_7, Cog, Maren, Tomas, Pletter, Kensyi, Daniel, ShadowedForest, Rosy, Lara, Kitzuna, Kakaae, Alex, Psyren G, Baseplate36, Scott, Tierhon, Gabriel