That's right, that's what adventure is like!

Chapter 118 Classes

Despite having a considerable understanding of the Adventurers' Guild, Roland was still stirred by Hogg's words.

In a fantasy world, extraordinary power reigns supreme, giving rise to countless organizations.

They may be born from blood ties or ideals, and they may vary in form, but they all share one essence: the awe and pursuit of power.

In this pursuit, some lose themselves like the Shadow Assembly, some are as chaotic and fragmented as the Kingdom, some are as powerful and domineering as the Empire, and some are as lurking in the shadows as the Secret Ring Council.

But if Roland had to describe the Adventurers' Guild in one word, he would now say "meticulous" would be the most fitting.

The association in Duanyan Town has been operating here for two hundred years. Now, changing its location is not just a short-distance relocation, but also means the disintegration and reshaping of personal relationships and the abandonment of countless resources.

But they will not linger, nor will they attempt to negotiate with the Empire, much less force themselves to stay here.

They always adhered to their principles, refusing to interfere, get involved, or become dependent on others.

Even if it meant starting all over again, even if they knew the empire might be using this move to weaken their influence, they still adhered to this principle.

Perhaps this is why the association has survived to this day.

“I will go with them,” Hogg cracked his neck, “but many old friends will probably choose to leave, since the Trembling Swamp can’t support so many adventurers.”

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the crowds coming and going, his tone slightly heavy.

"I've heard about what happened in the Blue Crystal Mountains. I'll use my authority to change your identity again and write you another letter of recommendation so you can have some connections in other branches."

Hog paused, then turned to look at Roland, his gaze intense: "I only wish for one thing."

"After you leave, just don't forget that you came from Broken Rock Town."

Roland was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.

Hogg looked at him and suddenly laughed. He turned around and went back to his seat, casually taking a scroll out of the drawer.

"Alright, now that the trivial matters are settled, let's get down to business—how much do you know about what happens after the promotion?"

Roland was invigorated; this was precisely why he had come here.

Although he has become a professional, he only has some scattered knowledge about the path ahead and needs someone to point him in the right direction.

After thinking for a moment, he carefully spoke: "After becoming a formal professional, one should aim for higher ranks—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Crystal, Legendary—but no one has told me exactly how to cross them."

Hogg nodded, unrolled a blank scroll, dipped his finger in the liquid in the nearby wine glass, and drew a simple dot on it.

"Bronze, Silver, Gold—these are your extraordinary ranks, but remember, what truly determines your position is your class."

He pointed to that origin point.

"This is where it all begins. You haven't yet identified your path, nor have you mastered enough extraordinary abilities."

Hogg then drew a huge circle, encompassing the origin and pointing towards the blank area in the middle.

"At this point, you have a wide range of choices. You can learn whatever abilities you want without any restrictions, whether it's physical, magical, hybrid, or special abilities."

Roland nodded; that's how he developed his magical perception.

Hogg drew two intersecting vertical lines inside the ring, cut out a sector that occupied a quarter of the ring, and wrote the words "Physics Department" inside the sector.

"Now that you have determined your core direction and become a formal professional, that is, a Bronze-ranked individual."

"At this point, you can only choose to learn the same broad category of skills."

"Let's take the warrior class as an example—at the Bronze tier, you can learn warrior skills, as well as rogue and barbarian skills. As long as it's a physical class, there are no restrictions, but you can't learn the other three major categories."

Roland listened attentively without interrupting.

Hogg gave him a satisfied look, then continued drawing at the two intersections of the sector and the ring, extending beyond the ring. This time, it was no longer a straight line, but rather contracted inward.

"This is the peak of the Bronze rank."

He clenched his fingers and drew two arcs, forming a gradually narrowing channel outside the circle.

"At this stage, you have learned many skills, some proficient and some rusty. You must make choices and determine your true path."

He looked up at Roland.

"If you want to reach the Silver rank, you must complete another advancement ceremony. This ceremony varies from person to person, but the core is the same—to verify whether your core skills are pure."

"Let's take a warrior as an example again. If you specialize in parrying and counter-attacking," then your promotion ceremony might involve withstanding the combined attacks of ten bronze-level professionals for thirty minutes without falling.

"Or, taking a mage's fireball spell as an example, his advancement ceremony might involve continuously casting fireballs for an entire day, with the required power."

Roland seemed to understand something: "So, to advance, the key is to practice the core skills to perfection and then use a ritual to verify them?"

“Yes,” Hogg nodded, then continued, “but there’s a trap here: the road gets narrower the further you go.”

He continued to push his finger forward, and the two inward-contracting arcs drew closer and closer, eventually merging into a narrow channel leading to the second arc-shaped area outside the circle.

"Once you advance to the Silver rank, your range of choices will be even smaller than that of the Bronze rank."

He wrote "warrior" in the second arc-shaped area.

"At this point, you can no longer be like the Bronze rank, dabbling in all kinds of physical professions. You can only learn a few professions similar to warriors, such as warrior, samurai, and combat master."

"At this stage, promotion is also based on core skills, but most people will not choose the same abilities as those at the Bronze rank, because that would be too limited in applicability."

Hogg drew a third arc, inside which he wrote "Master of Battle".

"At the Gold tier, you will only learn the basic skills of your class, but each skill will have a very strong effect, such as the Combat Master skill."

The fourth arc was drawn, and inside it was a question mark.

"At the Crystal Rank, there are no more paths for you to follow. You must integrate all your skills, including the other professional abilities you learned before you started working, at the Bronze Rank, and at the Silver Rank, to forge a new path."

Finally, he drew a dot at the end of the line.

"Legend, no one knows how to walk this path. Some believe it is to become a god, while others believe it is to comprehend the essence of the world, but that is no longer within the scope of our discussion."

Hogg stopped pointing and leaned back in his chair.

"This is the path to the extraordinary. The higher you go, the fewer choices you have and the narrower the road becomes, but with each threshold you cross, your power will leap to a new level."

He stared at Roland, his amber eyes filled with scrutiny and admiration.

"You are now in the Bronze Rank circle. The combat skills you have learned, the enemies you have killed, and the marks on your body are all helping you narrow your direction."

He paused, his tone becoming serious.

"There is another way—change jobs."

Hogg dipped his finger in the wine again and drew a forked dotted line outside the ring.

"At the Bronze rank, you can not only improve your core skills, but also actively learn the abilities of other classes. For example, a warrior can learn the stealth and lockpicking of a rogue, or the berserk of a barbarian."

He pointed to the dotted line.

"Once you've learned enough and become proficient enough, you'll have two choices when you try to break through to the Silver rank."

"First, follow the original path, complete the warrior skill advancement ceremony, and become a silver-rank warrior, such as a weapon master."

"Second, complete the roaming skill advancement ceremony and change your class to a silver-tier roaming rogue, such as an assassin."

Hogg looked at Roland.

"This is what job changing means; you've given up part of the path you were on before and taken a new one."

Roland asked thoughtfully, "What is the price?"

"The price?" Hogg chuckled. "The price is that half of the time you've invested in the path of a warrior will be wasted. You'll have to relearn the core skills of a wanderer and relearn a new fighting style."

He paused, his tone becoming heavier.

"There's nothing shameful about changing jobs. I've seen many adventurers—some of them realized halfway through that they weren't suited for it, changed direction in time, and went further and higher; others followed one path to their death and ended up with nothing."

"The choice is yours, but always remember, the further you go, the greater the cost of turning back."

His words echoed in the air. Roland's gaze lingered on the arcs and words before he finally looked up and said sincerely, "Thank you for your guidance."

This statement comes from the heart. On the path to extraordinary achievement, even if one has a cheat code that allows them to break through skill learning limitations, the enormous impact of general job advancement should never be ignored.

In a time when extraordinary information is blocked, this information is undoubtedly more valuable than all the gold coins earned.

Hogg shook his head, tapped the table with his fingers, and continued, "The Association won't pry into your profession, but if you want to know which professions you can switch to, the Association is willing to help."

He paused, then continued, "Have you decided where to go?"

Roland replied, "The Baron League."

"I see."

Hogg was not surprised by this choice; he had obviously heard many people say the same thing.

He then took out a piece of parchment from the drawer and handed it to Roland: "There's a caravan that's leaving in three days. This is their commission form. You can make some money off it."

"The tour leader is an old friend of mine, so he's fairly reliable. If you're interested, you can give it a try."

Roland rose, took the parchment, and bowed deeply in respect.

Thank you.

Hogg waved his hand, leaned back in his chair, and said wearily, "Alright, go down now. Don't forget the Association's support in nurturing you."

"And don't forget, you're still someone from the Broken Rock Town branch."

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