Effervesce - 1.5

I wish I had the [Destroy Refuse] skill or whatever it was called.

Maybe it would work on my brain because only a mind who thought drinking plant water and animal parts would be alright was trash. Was I trash? I must be, because that was how I was feeling.

See, the first ‘potion’ of mine didn’t do much. It was only claws and leaves, so after I drank it, I didn’t feel much. Must not be that bad, right? So, obviously, I repeated the process after getting new water and using [Repair Trash] to clean out the pot and bowls.

Next I used the flowers and rat eyes. Why eyes? I really didn’t want to cut open a rat, and the eyes were out front and really easy to cut out, as well as mash up. After mixing up graverat eyes and white flower water to a nice paste, then stirring that into hot water, I drank it.

Honestly, both didn’t taste nearly as bad as Jorge’s cooking.

Then, minutes later, I was puking my guts out onto the floor and feeling like someone was stabbing me in my stomach. My cries alerted Maric quickly, and he rushed out to take care of me.

I knew he had a skill to help prevent sickness or disease as a passive skill, he had mentioned it in passing a few times as to why we weren’t always ill. Not even his skill, however, stopped me from catching a fever and twisting pain in my stomach.

It also didn’t stop the ‘potions’ from running through me and causing an entire different type of pain.

That’s how, in all my glory in experimentation, I ended up spending three days doing nothing but resting and using [Repair Trash] on anything my siblings brought me. While the other kids questioned how I got sick, with Maric, Helen, and Jorge knowing why, nobody told them other than that I just ate something bad.

Maric had apparently expected something like this, and with his acknowledgement, neither Helen or Jorge scolded me for taking risks. It was simply a fact of life that I would have to do something risky.

[Trash Diver 5 / 5]

[Please select skill.]

[Surefire Dumpster Diving - The next one definitely has something good.]

[Garbage Pack Rat - Carry more trash than normal.]

[Trash To Treasure - Shine it up real nicely.]

I stared with bleary eyes at the ceiling as I went over the choices in my mind. The last skill would naturally be more powerful, I supposed. These were three words long, which I guess meant that longer skills were simply more powerful?

The problem was that capping your class and moving onto the next made you lose all your skills with one exception: combination skills.

Since I was definitely keeping [Repair Trash], and my only other option for combination was [Fortify Rubbish], these were worthless to me unless I was going to combine it.

Even a quick glance at the skills told me only one would be a good combination, and depending on how it worked would be the obvious choice for combination.

[Skill gained.]

[Trash To Treasure - Shine it up real nicely.]]

“Eva,” said Helen as she sat next to me. She was carving another stone animal as she minded me today. “Something wrong?”

I shook my head slowly, not wanting to get dizzy from doing it too fast. “Finished Initiate class.”

Helen nodded, her expression barely flickering, though I could tell she was happy for me. “Are you capping immediately?”

“Later,” I said as I rested my head against the cold stone. “Got a new skill, [Trash To Treasure].”

While Initiate skills weren’t really special compared to an actual class, I liked to think mine were incredible. Helen scooted closer to me, thought about something for a moment, and then held out her copper carving knife to me.

“You sure?” I asked before taking it. “Could mess it up.”

“I’ll get another if so,” she said blankly.

I took her copper knife carefully, then reached for the skill inside me. It needed a target, which was pretty easy, and a minute of focus. “[Trash To Treasure].”

The moment I used it, I actually had to focus on the copper knife for a minute. There was nothing else I could think about unless I wanted to cancel the skill. It wasn’t a gradual process to watch either.

The copper carving knife was a well-loved tool, something Helen used every day she was home, and a gift from Maric. It showed the wear and tear too, since even with whatever skills she was using, the fact was she was carving stone.

After a minute, those signs of wear that not even [Repair Trash] could fix, vanished. The entire blade looked brand new, the edge sharper than it had been, with the metal itself gaining a deeper color.

As soon as the skill ended, I had three days until it could be used again.

Three days? I wasn’t staying as a [Trash Diver] for three days, so in my absolutely rational mindset not influenced by impatience whatsoever, I focused on my empty combination skill slot.

[Combination Skills 0 / 1]

[Please choose skills to combine.]

[Repair Trash]

[Rotten Luck]

[Fortify Rubbish]

[Trash To Treasure]

Obviously I chose [Repair Trash] and [Trash To Treasure]. There might have been more things I could use [Repair Trash] on, but really I had done almost everything important in the house at least once.

[Combining skills…]

[Skill gained.]

[Trashy Enhancement - A garbage upgrade is still an upgrade.]

It became worse? The skill was now only two words long, so was length an indication of more powerful skills or did [Repair Trash] downgrade it?

Before I handed the knife back, I focused on the new skill to use it, but I paused as it wasn’t where my skills usually were. It took a moment to find since it was inconveniently in an entirely different spot than my class skills!

I suppose that was why they were considered outside skills.

[Trashy Enhancement] didn’t have a focus time for it, and instead was instant like all my other skills. Except, unlike my other skills, this one came with a quick, mild glow.

The copper carving knife glowed white very briefly, and when the glow faded the knife was absolutely different. Not only was the blade an inch longer, the metal was an entirely different color.

That skill as well had a three day cooldown, so it definitely wasn’t something I could use that often.

“Here,” I said as I handed the knife back to a wide-eyed Helen.

She gently took the knife back and slowly inspected it. “...Bronze? No, wrong color. I don’t know.”

Helen picked up her stone she had been carving from, and with a smooth motion cut off a sliver of stone. “A lot easier.”

That was nice, I was really happy that I could repair her gift from Maric. Maybe it was my feverish mind, the fact I was both freezing and burning up, my sore throat, or even the fact that I was still exhausted, but I just wanted to go back to sleep.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I rolled up in my blankets and tried to get as comfortable as I could on the stone couch. Helen got closer, ran her hand over my forehead, and whispered, “Thank you, Eva.”

That was the last thing before I passed out and dreamt of the girl and her other world.

As soon as the dream solidified, I did the same as I had been doing the last few days: searching for ways to make potions. More specifically, I was combing over memories of the girl when she played games and happened to be using ‘alchemy’.

Of course my potions failed, I never expected anything else for one simple fact: I had no magic.

That was a common link in every single game the girl played, and the only thing that could fix that for me was a good class. I prayed that whatever controlled the classes had seen my intent and would at least give me a chance.

My fear, deep down, was that it viewed what I did simply as bad cooking.

If… if I didn’t get a class that could at least point me in the right direction, maybe I would take a cooking class. Could I achieve the same effects with food? Possibly, I really didn’t have any idea what more powerful classes were capable of, but it wasn’t the path I wanted.

It might seem silly, a child’s ignorant wishing, to focus so hard on something from a dream. Not even something significant, like all the strange mechanical wonders of this other world. So many machines, concepts, and roles that were more defined that I knew could be done in my world.

Shaping stone and metal? In time, and with the help of my family, I could definitely do it. Become a warrior with a blade, or even see if I could mimic the effects of magic? Why, with all my dream world’s possibilities, did I focus on potions?

Two reasons, and the first impressions of those reasons hit me so hard that it rocked me at the time. One, so much of what I saw could build and destroy in equal measure, which did call to me. Why wouldn’t it?

Yet none of it healed. None of it built up the person, only built tools to assist. None healed as magically as a drink from a vial.

Two, if I ignored the magical nature of it, the process seemed like something even I, a destitute orphan living on the scraps of my city, could do. It was all the worse because I had no idea how to create magic, but mixing up some eyes and flowers?

Yet, if it was that easy, how come my world didn’t have potions everywhere? We have cooks, chefs and others that did effectively the same thing. Only after I had done it all and had to rest due to basically poisoning myself did I wonder.

Only now, when I had my class capped and I was a step before taking the plunge to discover, did I doubt.

I broke the dream early and woke up, not wanting to drown in doubts. That was why so many stayed at their class cap instead of moving on, even if they knew they could progress.

Losing all that you’d gained for the chance at something better? That would never be easy.

Helen was napping on the other side of the couch, and I didn’t hear anybody else upstairs with us. With the flurry of voices below, however, I could tell Maric was downstairs.

I no longer felt woozy and hot from fever, but the pain in my stomach hadn’t fully left yet.

Doing it once might be enough, but should I do it again? Was a single attempt as a fake potion enough?

I bit my lip at the thought of downing another cup of meaty plant mush.

“If I don’t get it, at least I’ll have a cooking class to make it taste better,” I said, steeling myself for the next moment.

Reaching inside myself where my class and skills sat, I willed the menu of my options forward.

[Trash Diver 5 / 5]

[Class capstone achieved.]

[View Skills]

[View Combination Skills]

[New Classes Available]

No time like the present. I focused on the new classes option.

[Class Slots 1 / 1]

[Delete Trash Diver?]

Yes.

[Class Deleted]

[Please select your Tier 0 class]

[Loyal Sister - A sister through thick and thin can bolster any family.]

[Adept Cleaner - Tough messes are no match for your might.]

[Repair Girl - Everything could use a bit of a fix.]

[Little Sneak - Get into trouble with nobody the wiser.]

[Poisonous Cook - A bit of poison in both the cook and cooking.]

Tears welled up in my eyes as I read that one, but kept going because reading the list didn’t need my eyes to be open. More classes popped up, but they were other variants of those.

I… did I really have to be a cook or something similar? Was there really no hope?

Then, the classes changed slightly.

[Vivid Dreamer - Dreams are what you want them to be.]

[Fixer Upper - A delicate touch can polish and enhance anything.]

[Little Runner - Run anywhere, even into places you can’t fit.]

Several more of slightly better sounding classes that were just a twist on the previous ones appeared, but none were what I wanted. With how the longer the list went, the more appealing some classes were, I rushed to the bottom to nearly cry with relief.

[Destitute Amateur Brewer - Innovation without resources, brew up some hearty potions with even the poorest of ingredients.]

There were no other options that had the word ‘potions’ in it, and even if the class sounded horrible, it really did fit, didn’t it? I was both destitute and an amateur, fumbling my way to this class the best I could.

[Tier 0 class chosen.]

[Class gained.]

[Destitute Amateur Brewer - Innovation without resources, brew up some hearty potions with even the poorest of ingredients.]

[Combination Skill Slot gained.]

[Destitute Amateur Brewer 1 / 10 gained.]

[Class Ability gained.]

[Create Alchemic Base gained.]

[Please select skill.]

[Bumble Up Recipe - Through luck and happenstance, learn a random potion recipe.]

[Daily Ingredient Box - A small bundle daily for the destitute brewer.]

[Analyze Trait: Simple - Learn a simple alchemical trait of an item.]

“Wow,” I said with a hitch in my breath. “They’re all probably huge cooldowns…”

I needed each of these skills, not just one! Each skill wasn’t guaranteed to reappear, especially if it’s one I already had, so I had to be careful with my choice here.

With another combination slot for when I eventually capped this class, I should also keep in mind if I want to combine it later on. Still, just looking at these skills told me this was the exact class I needed.

Truthfully, I was instantly tempted to get [Daily Ingredient Box] because I quite literally had access to nothing but some critters and plants I had to pay for. As I wasn’t even sure I could use those in brewing potions, it was probably what I was going to pick.

But [Analyze Trait: Simple] let me actually learn if the ingredients had alchemical properties. Sure, it was limited to what I could access, but if looking toward the future, isn’t that something I direly needed?

Then there was [Bumble Up Recipe], which would tell me what I needed to make a potion, and if I was lucky, it told me what potion the recipe made! In some ways, this one was the most exciting because it told me what was possible for me at the moment.

Spoiled for choices that I needed, I debated on what skill to choose.

After a few minutes, [Daily Ingredient Box] won out simply because I wasn’t in any rush to drink up dead graverats.

[Skill gained.]

[Daily Ingredient Box - A small bundle daily for the destitute brewer.]

I already missed the skills I didn’t get, and that motivated me to quickly rank up my class. Unwrapping myself from my blankets, I reached for a cup of water nearby.

That small movement woke Helen enough that she peered out through half-closed eyes and mumbled, “Better?”

I sipped on the water, the lukewarm liquid quenching the pain of my dry throat.

“Better,” I confirmed. “New class.”

She nodded while rubbing one eye. “What you wanted?”

“Yes,” I said with such relief coloring my tone it surprised even me. “I can do it.”

“That’s nice,” said Helen as she went back to her nap.

I had a new skill and a new class ability. Admittedly, I wasn’t very educated on classes considering I didn’t even know class abilities were a thing. Was it simply one of those things you forgot to mention since everyone got one eventually?

Lately I was feeling that Maric and Jorge didn’t explain enough to me. Helen didn’t count, it was a good day when she said more than four sentences.

“[Daily Ingredient Box].”

There was a visible distortion in the air, like if your eyesight went blurry for just a second before you blinked, before a plain brown box appeared in my life. It was maybe a foot long and tall, and was fairly light.

Helen opened one eye, saw the box, then closed it before snuggling deeper into her blanket.

The box had a simple lid that I took off with both hands before I peeked at what was inside.

“Ooh,” I breathed with awe. Ingredients!

Well, I assumed they were, obviously, but there were three items in the box. One big, green mushroom with a large, fluffy cap, a few stalks of yellow grass with grain on one end, and a small blue-grey block.

I went to pick up the blue-grey block wondering what it was. It was slimy and soft to the touch, nearly melting just under the warmth of my fingertips! Quickly I dropped it, carried my box to the table that had all my cups and bowls on it, and scooped the block into one of the bowls.

Thankfully, while I was delirious from fever and self-poisoning, someone had cleaned my tools. Even at room temperature the block quickly melted into a thick goop!

Oh, how I wished for an analysis skill.

Better yet, I wished for a knowledge skill.

When I reached for my class ability [Create Alchemic Base], I felt that I needed to target somewhere with a finger. Strange that I felt this compulsion where my [Daily Ingredient Box] simply showed up, but I put my finger on an empty stone bowl.

Inside, out of nowhere, a clear liquid filled up the bowl. Not fully, not even halfway. Maybe a stone cup's worth? It was thin like water, but had a weird thick clearness to it, sort of the opposite of water.

Well! Here I was with actual ingredients, something that was apparently the base of my entire class, and absolutely no idea what to do next!