Forge of Rhurtas 3

The hologram, which was created from the light coming from the orb, The hologram looked no older than 40, with a majestic beard that would put most guys to shame. The man had long hair going down to his shoulders, which he soon tied up into a bun. He was 6 feet or taller in height, and his body seemed to be what can only be described as a peak male body. If Jack had to describe the man standing beside him, he looked like a.

"Viking"

The first words Jack spoke out loud again. He had gotten used to speaking his thoughts out loud in the past few days, and due to him being by himself, there wasn't an issue if someone heard what he was going to say anyway. That wasn't the case anymore, as the man sighed and spoke. 

"Uh, I have no idea what that is, young one. Regardless, let me welcome you to the forge of Ruthras. I am Nahdiv, one of the students of Ruthras, the god of blacksmithing. Well, he liked to call himself a god; he's a game master, so he's pretty close in all honesty. Anyway, more importantly, you have cleared the first trial of the Dungeon of Ruthras. Well, that stone basilisk must have been a real headache to deal with for an inferior-ranked being. So congratulations on that kid."

The hologram spoke with a much more proud smile while looking at Jack, who was taken back a bit. He wasn't used to this kind of niceness, Anymore, as he nodded and then looked around the room. Honestly, there was a lot of interesting stuff here. The hologram saw his curiosity and smirked.

"It seems like you're interested in the workings of a blacksmith. Kid, I assume you don't have any classes yet."

"What's a class?" Jack asked honestly, confused. The old man's hologram never told him about anything related to classes. 

"Well, it looks like the guide didn't do a good job. Okay listen. You know what gene skills are, right?" Jack nodded. He was aware that at least "good, so there are three kinds of skills one can acquire. Firstly, gene skills, which are naturally obtained by getting stronger, and your skill tree. Then come your class skills. Upon completing a dungeon, you can accept its class as a reward if you don't already have one. That's why dungeons are only found in the tutorial. Upon mastering your class and increasing your experience in said class, you can gain skills related to that class."

Jack nodded taking in everything that was said. That old man must have been a horrible guide to let out such an important part just like that. "What about the third kind?" Jack asked.

"The third kind are extra skills gained from completing quests, which can be bought using merits or even some items like tomes. Extra classes are the only ones you can acquire as you wish because the other two are dependent on your genes and class. As for this dungeon, you'll have to finish it either way, choosing to take the class or not. After that, that will be your choice."

Jack nodded. So this was going to be a trial to teach him a skill, and then it was his choice whether he would make the skill his class or not. It seemed simple enough as he held the hammer in his hand, giving it a twirl. "So, where do I start?" 

"No, no, no, you don't start with a hammer. Your body is frankly horrible. It's not fit for the art of blacksmithing. So your first trial is fixing that. Don't worry, time works differently in a dungeon, so you won't lose many days. Now get down on the ground and begin. I need 100 pushups from you in an hour. No skills, only work."

The man who had shown no fear in the face of certain death was unsure if he could do this. Being stubborn can only take you so far. Adrenaline wasn't going to help him out on this one, as he got on the ground and started doing pushups one at a time. 

Meanwhile, Jack was doing pushups in the underground dungeon. Much above the ground, very far away from where he was still within the forests. The giants had gathered together for what they deemed a very important meeting. Among the giants were various heads of different clans, which all sat at a very long table. The atmosphere wasn't very good as each giant was arguing with the other in an angry tone, shouting stuff that can only be considered slurs in the giant language. Suddenly everything went silent, though as a single giant entered the room, there was no more arguing as all of them sat down in their seats. The ruler had arrived.