"So you are a rogue?"

The latest question of a series which had been the only conversation between the two arrived, it seemed Zen was interested in learning more about Damien and his victory in the last test.

"Yes, through some circumstances I was given this class. I'm not complaining though, I quite like it so far," from the things he had learned so far, being a rogue was rather fitting for him. The brutish and front and center aspects of being a warrior were not a good blend with his personality, if he had to pick something else it would be a mage. The idea of being able to deal damage and provide support at the same time was worthwhile in his eyes.

"And you were able to beat that Inferno Felis all by yourself? You might not realize it but those kinds of creatures are very strong, not something people like us should be able to beat by ourselves. I'm honestly impressed," the short elf explained. She was right in a sense, Damien didn't understand her point.

He lacked the arrogance others possessed in spades, he had trouble in dealing with the giant cat but he didn't see it as something overwhelming. With a bit more power and more an ideal setup, he thought the fight would have gone much more fluidly. He didn't think he did anything all that great.

"Really? It did get me first place, but I don't think it was all that impressive."

"No, No! It really is crazy to do, especially considering you are a rogue! Normally a rogue can't fight by themselves, they need others to fill their weaknesses. Although they are strong they aren't all that balanced so a team is essential," she countered with excitement in her voice.

The sudden display of emotion from the girl who had been more reserved until this point was caught by Damien, seeking to make a foundation for friendship he prodded at her, "You seem to know a lot about this sort of thing, did they teach you this stuff in the Mercenary Guild? I thought I was paying attention to everything, but I must have missed this."

The cheer which had slowly been built by Damien in the girl dimmed at the new question, her face looked troubled as she answered, "I just know… I woke up in Level 0 just like most of us, and exactly like everyone else I had no memories. But we all have common sense, right? We keep knowledge of basic stuff, but I already knew about the Levels and the tests, and everything else really… I asked around and I was told that my situation isn't all that uncommon."

"Wait you knew stuff about this world beforehand? How is that possible? I don't remember anything from my previous life, but at the very least I know I didn't come from anywhere similar to this," he questioned further, everything he knew about this world was particularly strange to him. The world he currently found himself in, along with its weird System, it deviated from what he perceived to be normality.

"They told me that Elves, Beastkins, and all other sorts of demihumans will have common knowledge of Anathum if they appear in Level 0. On the other hand, humans will have a chance of knowing basic knowledge or being completely unaware of the System," it seemed she had trouble putting her explanation into words, "It's a little hard to describe, but people think that it's possible for inhabitants of Anathum, from any Level, to randomly get sent to Level 0. That's why all demihumans know a little about the world when they appear here, although it is theorized that humans that don't remember anything about Anathum are brought from somewhere else…"

Somewhere else…? Where did we come from?

"So in other words, all demihumans come from within Anathum, but not all humans do, that's interesting," he summarized, his curiosity was piqued, "Well what about you then? If you came from somewhere within this place then you must have family out there, right? You must have disappeared from someone's life?"

She squeaked at his questions, she had likely placed thought into that sort of thing already, "I suppose so… But it's not so bad since I'm an elf!"

"Is that right? I don't know much about other races," he said to the now focused Zen, she was now staring directly at him as they made their way to the sliding doors, "I'd love to hear more about Elves from you if possible."

The effort he went through to make sure his tone sounded sincere and his smile looked kind paid off when Zen grew excited to have the chance to talk about her race to someone who was genuinely interested, "Of course!"

That conversation would have to wait however, the doors slid open to let both Climbers into the large hall. Sitting within were a few people already, the only two he recognized by name were Jane and Donovan. Luckily they were sitting apart from each other, Damien recognized the aura of strength each one possessed, if Jane were to get him on her team he would have a very difficult time overcoming that obstacle. The last thing he needed was for her to get closer to Donovan.

Looking at the tables his theory was proven true, plates with morning food were in front of each person and each seat. He wanted to approach Donovan, he would be instrumental for whatever the next Phase was, if he got into good terms with him then their interactions would go smoothly if he managed to purchase him as a teammate.

But he couldn't do that with Zen in tow, he wasn't great at dealing with people. He could deal with making friends with a single person at a time, if the situation had more than him and one other then he was unaware of how well he would manage. He would have to find another opportunity.

"Let's sit here, alright?" Damien pointed to the closest empty chairs.

"Oh alright."

The atmosphere in the room was one of seriousness, no one spoke and the only sound that ran freely was the sound of cutlery. Not wanting to disrupt that peace, Damien and Zen joined in on the silence.

As more and more people began to make their way to the hall, the tables began to grow more and more crowded. But fortunately, there were a few more tables and chairs then they were people, Admin either must have foreseen the amount of people that would pass to this Phase, or she had constructed this room the moment the event was over. Either one was hard to believe, but if it was Admin then the situation was perfectly normal. There was no way to know the limits of a being created by the System.

Then the silence was broken by the soft voice of Admin, "Good morning to you all, I am happy to see you all found your way back to the dining hall," she spoke to the group, she looked exactly the same she did the day before, not a single hair out of place, "If you are all done eating, then please follow me to your lecture room."

Without waiting to see if the Climbers would stand up she turned on her heel and walked away.

Not wanting to be left behind every Climber rushed out of their seats to follow behind her.

Admin continued to move through the hall without concern for the sudden clanging and scraping of chairs on floor, the group followed shortly behind. After a brief walk, they arrived at a new set of dark wooden doors.

"Please step inside and sit wherever you please," Admin held the door open for them.

The room inside was filled with rows of chairs and desks much like a classroom, towards the front was a podium and a large dark screen behind that encompassing the whole back wall.

Admin stepped toward the podium and patiently waited for everyone to take a seat somewhere. Once every Climber was settled into the room, Admin smiled and began her lecture, "Let me start by saying that there are many teams that can be formed, each one specialized in a certain aspect of a fight. Sometimes a team must add another member to make up for an aspect of a particularly difficult monster, but what I am trying to say is that there is no correct or incorrect way to form a team. There are many ways teams have been formed to combat a situation, so don't feel constrained by conventional methods."

Sensing no questions coming up she continued, "That being said I will explain the most basic team and why it is used even in the highest of tests. We begin with the foundation of a team, the warrior types, these classes specialize in high defense and moderate to high damage, depending on the specific class. These will take most of the damage and be front and center in a fight, their job is to ensure that all other party members are safe and able to continue their functions."

The information was particularly useful for Damien and Jane who were seeking to create their own teams, knowing what to look for would be vital to creating the best team possible.

"Then we have our mage types, these are able to deal high versatile damage. Many monsters have special defenses that will weaken other types of damage except a particular one, in these cases, it falls to the mage to deal that particular damage and lower the monster's defenses. That's why mages must focus on learning multiple sources of damage, either Elemental or Special magic."

Looking to make sure everyone was paying attention to her words, Admin continued, "One of the most important aspects of a team is their ranger/scout. These classes will scout out the areas ahead and find the best route to travel along with the threat level of each monster, scout and Ranger types are the only classes that receive the Analysis skill which allows them to see the information of other things. You might have noticed you are able to see the information of things you own but not of other things, the Analysis skill is useful since it will allow a party to know if they are able to take on a creature or if they are better off running away."

Analysis? A skill that lets you see the information of others… that's extremely useful.

"Next are rogues type classes, depending on the rogue class a party has, a rogue's role can differ greatly, but generally they are used as damage dealers. This is because their STR stat is the highest weight among all other classes, so a rogue will always be able to deal more damage than most other classes easily," she explained mostly to the only two rogues in the room.

Pretty much what Eira already explained.

"Lastly we have cleric types, these are crucial to a party since they can both heal and buff party members, but also debuff enemies in multiple ways. While other classes might be interchangeable clerics are not, they will always be present in any party that is at least sane."

But there are no clerics here.

Flicking her head to face Damien, Admin smiled, "Great observation Mister Damien, there are no clerics that made it to this Phase, a real shame. However I recommend you make up for that by adding an extra warrior to the mix or maybe even a mage, you should find a good workaround.”

I really should stop thinking when Admin is around, don’t want her to respond to some of my thoughts.

Admin replied by smiling at him.

“I know some of you are thinking about some other questions you have for me, but I will ask you to wait on those, you can ask during your instructions. Please head out to the rooms that are labeled with your class, from now on these will be the places you report to in the mornings. You will be instructed on how to obtain more skills and how to evolve your starter classes. And if you score at the top of your class, you will even receive a charm for your troubles," Admin pulled out a small box from her pocket, "Which will even grant you a Title, so please try your best."

Damien looked over to his only competition for the charm and Title, the other rogue in the other side of the room simply stared at the floor to avoid his gaze.

I still have to deal with that person somehow…

The Climbers stood up from their charms and got ready to begin their training.