Gladiator

While the humble Gladiator might seem unassuming to the untrained commoner's eye, to underestimate a Gladiator in battle is often a lethal mistake. Many a would-be mugger has lost their life to what they thought was just a badly trained mercenary, only to face the fury of a true warrior. Through intense training and deep dedication to their craft, a Gladiator will have mastered many weapons and types of armor, where other adventurer classes can only wield 3 at most. Their only weakness on this area lies in their inability to utilize spellbooks: the training required to maintain their skills often leaves no time to study these tomes properly. And while they share weapon abilities with many other adventurer classes, specialization is not their strong suit: for example, a Gladiator would not outclass a Sniper with a bow.    

Masters of Their Craft

During the early years of the Age of Adventurers, Gladiators were trained to defend villages alongside the town guard, as adventurers were rare at the start of the era. In these times, they were often men, but female Gladiators certainly were not out of the question at the time. In the absence of sons in a family, women received the same training as their male counterparts. But later, they would stand at an equal position to the men, and could enroll in the class at will. It would become commonplace to see women amongst this class. At the time, Gladiators often fought in arenas during peaceful times, which would lead to their name. Due to their consistent skillsets and consistence in the items they could wield, the College of Wanderers officially acknowledged them as an adventurer class: the Gladiator is one of the oldest adventurer classes, sharing its inception with the Sorcerer class. But contrary to the mages who often came from noble families at the time, a Gladiator can come from every layer of society: they could be a peasant, a noble, or even royalty. The class often unites people who would otherwise never meet, since becoming a candidate or this adventurer class is purely about skill. There is an old saying amongst Gladiators from this time period that has survived until this very day: 'In the end, every man on the battlefield dirties their armor'. Most martial-minded classes, like the Paladin and the Barbarian, stemmed from the Gladiator class.  

Versatile Warriors

Where other adventurer classes spend longer to attain a specialized skillset, the Gladiator is a quick learner: they are all but dumb forces, and tend to pick up new skills quickly. Where a Barbarian overcomes an intimidating foe through sheer strength, a Gladiator will overcome an enemy that physically outclasses them through cunning and resourcefulness. Some classes know exactly where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and rely on using their limited skillset to their advantage. But a Gladiator is characterized by their ability to adapt: if one approach from their training won't work, then they will find another way to overcome their foe, and they are not above using the environment to their advantage.