The smith laughed. “What, did ye think ye were keeping it a secret? Ye’ve been down here days and days lad, most young’ns get fed up with the heat and noise in under an hour, of course ye want to be a smith.”

  “Do you think I can? Become a smith?”

  “’Course ye can, why wouldn’t ye? Anyone who’s been to a forge before can choose a smithing class, and it’s a good choice anyway. Never heard of a smith starving before, and I could use some help around the forge while yer gettin’ trained up.”

  The smith turned to face James directly. “More importantly, what’re ye thinking for yer second class? It’s important.”

  “Oh… I hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “Well ye better think about it, and quick. Or commit to not choosin’ right away, but most can’t: it’s too tempting when the options in front of ye. It sits in the back of yer mind, distractin’. Yer gonna want a class that works well with smithing. Archer classes are right out, jus’ a total waste o’ time. Hand to hand classes are always a good choice, and the strength bonus from smith classes will help with that. Or ye could take a weapon class, and ye’ll always have yer weapon of choice if yer a smith, and in good repair too. That’s important, too many farmers out there taking swords classes and forgettin’ they need to keep their sword maintained and tryin’ to fight vermin with rusty dull swords.”

  Jared spat. “If ye want my advice, a hammer warrior class works the best. The skills for smithing and hammer fightin’ got good synergy, so you can improve ‘em both at the same time. Then ye can spend less time training in your second class for self-defense and more time practicin’ yer smithin’.”

  James went home that evening, head full of thoughts of becoming a smith. His fifteenth birthday, the day he could choose his Classes, was only a week and a half away. He could hardly bear to wait any longer, but wishing wouldn’t make time pass any faster.

  “I’m home!” James called as he opened the door to his home. As he brushed the dirt off his feet, his parents both came to meet him in the entryway. James looked up. “Huh? What’s up?” he asked his parents. His parents shared a glance before his father answered. “James, it’s time to have The Talk.” James could hear the capital letters. “The Talk?” he repeated. “Yes,” his mother replied, “your birthday’s coming up, and you’ll be able to choose your Classes, but we need to have a Talk first.”

  They relocated to the dining table. James’ mother poured them all tea and they sat down. James’ father opened the conversation. “So? Have you given any thought to what Classes you want to take?”

  “Yeah, I want to be a Smith!”

  His father chuckled and his mother smiled. “Yeah, we figured. Jared mentioned you’d been spending a lot of time at his forge.”

  “So what about your second class?” His mother inquired.

  “I dunno,” James said, “something that works well with Smith, I guess. Jared said a Hammer Warrior would be a good idea.”

  James’ father nodded. “Yes, it’s good to take classes with synergy. I can see how knowing your way around a hammer would help both classes.”

  “But,” James’ mother interjected, “there’s a problem with taking Hammer Warrior as your second class. Can you figure out what it is?”

  James thought a moment. “Uhm, I can’t really think of a problem… a hammer’s a good weapon, right? It can even smash up armor, unlike smaller weapons like daggers.”

  “You’re close.” James’ father encouraged, but his mother frowned at him.

  “Stephen, please, this is too important.” She scolded James’ father. “There’s nothing wrong with a hammer as a weapon, or even with daggers. Pretty much any weapon is fine as long as your class supports you using it. The problem is, what if you don’t have a hammer?”

  James fell silent. He hadn’t thought of that. What could a Hammer Warrior do without a Hammer? He’d never actually met a Hammer Warrior, but he could imagine it’d be a big problem in a fight.

  James’ father, suitably chastened by his wife’s wisdom, then spoke. “Your mother’s right, James. It’s a very serious problem, and not just for Hammer Warriors. Swordsmen, Fencers, Spearmen, any class focused on the use of a particular weapon is at serious risk of being beaten in a fight if they lose their weapon, or for whatever reason get in a fight without their weapon. In fact, that’s why Knifewielders aren’t unheard of: it’s easy to hide a small blade on your person and Knifewielders are geniuses at hiding one or two, even after you search them real good.”

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  “Of course,” James’ mother resumed, “most weapon Classes do have skills that support unarmed combat, but they’re not nearly as good. A Swordsman without his sword is simply much easier to beat than when he has his sword. That’s why your father and I both chose Brawler as our second class.”

  “You know that your mother is a Homemaker primarily, and that my first class is Farmer.” James’ father said. “But we both chose Brawler as our second class. In fact, lots of people choose Brawler.”

  “The benefit,” James’ mother’s eyes shone as she started speaking more rapidly, “is that for a Brawler, anything can be a weapon if you’re holding it right! And even if you don’t have anything useful, like a barstool or a piece of wood or a rock, the Brawler class has plenty of support for unarmed fighting and running away. The way weapon-based classes fight are just so boring and orthodox, but Brawlers embrace the chaos of a fight and use any advantage they can get to either win or get away to fight another day.” Her face was slightly flushed as she extolled the virtues of a good brawl.

  “Martial Artist is also a good class for unarmed combat.” James’ father added.

  “But Martial Artists don’t do well with weapons, dear! A Brawler can use a sword, a staff, a knife, anything at hand in a fight! The options are endless! Martial Artists, sure you can’t really disarm them, but they can’t do much to someone wearing armor now can they? And unless they really train for it, they don’t do as well running away from a fight now do they? Brawler is definitely the best choice!” Her voice had risen in volume until she was just shy of shouting, and at some point she’d stood up out of her chair, too.

  “Honey, please, I agree with you, but in the end it’s up to James.”

  “Oh, yes, ahem of course.” James’ mother sat down and sipped her tea somewhat elegantly, but her face was still flushed.

  “Haha, you might even say your mother’s first class is Brawler, and Homemaker is her second!” James’ father said, before the dull sound of a leg being kicked came from under the table and his eyes started to water.

  “Anyway!” James’ mother exclaimed, “While synergy is important, it’s much more important that you DO take a combat class, if not as your first class then at LEAST as your second. The world is a dangerous place. Without a combat class, no matter how much you train, anyone who DOES have a combat class can push you around, or worse, and you won’t be able to defend yourself.”

  James’ father nodded, now entirely serious. “What you must NOT do is take two non-combat classes. If you decide to take Hammer Warrior as your second class after Smith, that’s entirely fine-”

  James’ mother coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like ‘brawler’.

  “Entirely fine,” James’ father continued, “because you will be able to defend yourself in a fight, and just being able to fight is enough to stop a fight from happening in the first place. It’s called deterrence. Even powerful Knights with two combat classes don’t stupidly pick fights with even the weakest B- ahem, Martial Artists, because it doesn’t take much to get injured or even permanently crippled.”

  “The trick is to go for the eyes.” James’ mother said dreamily.

  James’ father broke into a coughing fit as his mother blushed.

  “Now, James, do you understand?”

  James nodded. He hadn’t thought about it much, but what his parents were saying made sense. It was a dangerous world out there. There were bandits, monsters, dungeons, and even wars between countries that could ravage the countryside. Besides, he really only cared about the Smith class. Nothing else really appealed to him, so he figured that whatever would work for his second class. Brawler sounded okay, but Hammer Warrior would probably be better, since it would help him be a better Smith.

  “Yes, I understand.” James said. “I’ll make sure to pick a combat class.”

  “Which one??” his mother leaned forward eagerly.

  “Uh, Brawler sounds good, but I think I’m going to pick Hammer Warrior, since it’ll help with being a Smith…”

  James had never seen his mother look so crushed. His father pulled her close and started rubbing her back.

  “It’s okay honey, he’s still got time to think it over, right, James?” His father made eye contact, urging him to agree.

  “Yeah, uh, right, there’s still time, so I’ll keep thinking about it…” James said.

  “And you’ll keep Brawler in mind, right?” His mother sniffed.

  “Yeah…”

  His mother perked up. “Good! Oh dear, it’s getting late, I’ll go get dinner started.” She got up and headed into the kitchen.

  James’ father leaned in and lowered his voice. “Even if you do take Brawler, you can put most of your effort into your other class if you want. I put way more effort into Farming than I do Brawling, and I get by alright. Your mother, on the other hand… Well, lets just say, she’s one of the best Brawlers I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a fair few. If you do choose Brawler, you couldn’t ask for a better mentor to learn from.”

  “I’m also the best Homemaker you’ve ever met!” James’ mother called from the kitchen.

  James’ father winced. “Like Brawler, Homemaker is a more generalized Class than specialized. And one of the Class skills is [Eavesdropping]…”

  “Yes, it sure is!” came ringing out from the kitchen.