The Guild of Adventurers
Affectionately nicknamed “The Guild”, the Guild of Adventurers is the major breeding ground for all the adventurers of the world. From childhood to adulthood, young men and women are molded into powerful and knowledgeable tools for society. Children from all walks of life are brought into The Guild to learn and while different societies may take liberties with certain points, there is a standard that all Guild authorized schools must follow.
The journey begins in the pre-guild known as The Academy of Adventurers (aka “The Academy”). The Academy teaches young children (usually around age 6) the basics such as how to read and write while also spelling out what will be expected of them as adventurers. After a year of this they graduate and are enrolled within the guild. The guild continues to give them an education but also begins teaching them foundational combat skills.
The guild is structured by a twelve rank system. Upon graduation from academy, an adventurer is given the rank of one. From September to June the students progress through the curriculum which finalizes in an end of year exam based on both a written test and combat assessment.
The type of combat that a student learns is divided into “classes”. Certain classes are considered more advanced than others and as such are restricted until a higher rank can be reached. When a student begins in the academy they’re designated a temporary class known as simply “melee” or “caster”. When a student reaches rank five they’re finally allowed to choose a true class (usually with the help of their teachers, advisors and/or parents). The foundation classes they can choose at that time is Warrior, Grappler, Rogue, Dark or Divine Mage.
At rank seven they’re given another choice, they can either continue to walk down the path they’ve chosen with their given class or branch off into an “advanced” class which builds on the foundations of the previous. For example, the Warrior class is melee based which specializes in weapons, but one might choose to splinter off to the Blademaster path which specializes in using a katana and a more reserved style of fighting. Changing paths completely is not uncommon but also not advised. An example of this would be a Divine Mage going down the path of Warrior or vice versa. Such a drastic change requires retaking the previous rank’s combat training; many begrudgingly decide to stick with their class even if they’re unhappy.
Upon rank ten comes graduation; the student is considered a full fledged adventurer and an adult in the eyes of society (usually around age 18-19). While many go on to become adventurers, fighting monsters and performing quests in service to their city, many others burn out around age 20-22 and settle into more “reasonable” jobs such security, construction and public service. However despite the finality of rank ten, there is also two more ranks that can be attained.
While the earlier ranks were more or less required for youths to participate in, ranks eleven and twelve are prestige titles that not just anyone can get. After graduation from The Guild if you want to continue your combat education you must become accepted and enrolled in a university. In addition to a fee that much be paid, the training in university is far more demanding and many fail out after a few months. The rank training is a year each just like The Guild’s regiment and with each rank that’s achieved, more doors open up to the adventurer.
Many well paying quests require for the adventurers to be at the very least rank eleven. However while quests require some legwork to find, rank twelve is when the most prestigious and stable jobs open up such as teaching positions within The Guild of Adventurer’s establishments, bodyguarding service for VIPs and etc.
Guild enrollment is mandatory for all youths with one notable exception; the “Disciple’s Exception”. Guardians rank ten and above can opt to withhold their children from the Guild’s curriculum and teach them on their own in a home school fashion. This exception isn’t very common and most who take it are those who are a class the Guild doesn’t teach (such as Dark Knight, Berserker or Caller). However despite this exception, the disciple must still take the end of the year exam at a Guild authorized school to progress in rank.
While demanding and seemingly impossible at times to some youths, these guidelines have guided the Sapient races for years on years.