Seraphine had a decision to make. It wasn't a decision she wanted to make and she had been postponing it for honestly too long at this point. The quest she had gotten would be the perfect opportunity for her to switch her class from sailor to captain.
There weren't really a lot of disadvantages to doing so. After all, a captain could have the same skills as a sailor could, so she wouldn't lose any of her skills. The only real loss would be that of her levels. which would be offset, at least later on, by the increased rarity of the class, making all the effects of each level ever so slightly more potent.
It wouldn't be fun to start over from scratch, which is why she hadn't changed her class yet, but with the sudden windfall of several levels to look forward to, she concluded that now would be the best time ever.
She considered for a moment to say fuck it all and not do it, stay as a sailor, continue as she had been, without changing, it wasn't all that bad after all, they made enough money for all of them to live, sailing from city to city on the safe routes, but then again, if that were what she wanted, she might as well just relinquish her position as captain entirely, let one of the younger girls pick up the role, giving them a chance for greatness.
something that she knew she wasn't going to do. This was her ship, she had earned it and she damn straight would keep it. Meaning, if she was being honest, that there really was only one choice. With a sigh, she called forward her class selection screen.
Class name Class rarity requirements Captain uncommon Be a captain of a ship and have a crew who view you as such. socialite Common Attend several prominent parties or social gatherings with important people.
minor noble Common Be born into minor nobility.
beggar Common Beg for money or food street thief Common Still on the street.
This was her. This was the summation of all she had ever been. On the list were several choices, paths she had long since abandoned, asking her to turn around and consider them once again. Of course, for many of them, it wasn't actually a choice,not anymore.
With a firm heart she chose the class captain. after which a prompt appears asking her if she was sure that this meant relinquishing her class as sailor starting from level one. Having already made her decision, Seraphine did not falter and she picked yes.
Feeling the ever-present guiding hand the system at her level offered disappearing or at least greatly lessening, Seraphine couldn't stop herself from letting out a sigh. This would not be an easy River to sail. But she supposed she had gotten a lucky break, and a good sailor always took whatever they could get.
At any rate, she would earn a couple of levels later the same day. Throughout the last couple of days, she had deliberately tried to go as slow as possible. At last, on this final day, she feared the crew might mutiny if she kept it up.
It was probably for the best at any rate. At this point she really didn't know what else to tell Izzy about. Thinking a bit about it, she brought forward the quest once again.
Quest:
A strange girl with a lot of questions
description:
A strange girl who is called Izzie has come out of the Emerald Abyss alive and very much naked. She claims to be ignorant about anything and everything.
Objective:
Teach Izzy about the system, how to use the system, what the system is, and a bit about the world.
Time limit:
until you reach the next city.
Reward:
high XP to extreme XP
She had had quite a bit of time between her impromptu teaching sprees with Izzy to think about this whole situation and she had come to a couple of conclusions.
She was pretty sure that Izzy didn't lie about not knowing anything. It was really hard to feign ignorance, and the kind of question Izzy asked defiled common logic. It also wouldn't make much sense that Izzy knew all of this, considering that her quest quite explicitly told her to teach Izzy about it.
which left Seraphine with two big questions. Who was Izzy and why was the system interested in her?
Seraphine still had no idea who Izzy was. Her first idea that she was some kind of rich noble's play toy who had either escaped or been thrown aboard seemed as plausible as any.
On the other hand, Seraphine was pretty sure she had figured out why the system cared for her. If she was right, Izzy had unlocked an epic class. If this was true, it was huge. Class rarity amplified all the effects of levels and skills. Rarer classes usually had better skills as a choice. The only downside was they also had more restrictions.
For instance, her class as captain required her to be an actual captain of a ship. If somehow the ship was destroyed, she would lose access to her class.She would however get access back if she managed to get a new ship.
As to what kind of class Izzy could have unlocked, Seraphine honestly had no idea. She believed two facts to be important. Firstly, Issy was in the Emerald Abyss, one of the most dangerous forests you could come across in quite some distance. And secondly, Issy was level zero. To what kind of class these factors could create, she had no idea and supposed that only the gods and Izzy could know.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
At any rate, she had potential. The next question was what to do with that potential and how could Seraphine gain the most from it.
The problem with this kind of question was, again, information. If Izzy were going to be a mage, she knew where to send her. If she was going to be a warrior, she had an idea as well. But there were so many more options, so it needed to be more general.
With a nod to herself, Seraphine had made a decision. She would introduce Izzy to some people by calling in old favors and hopefully gaining new ones at the same time.
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I've learned quite a lot these past couple of days. One of the things I have learned is that I absolutely in no way shape or form am going to be a sailor.
Holy shit it is boring. There is absolutely nothing to do on board except talk, gamble or sleep. Perhaps this all wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't because the majority of the crew went out of their way to avoid me. Not out of any malice, but I could certainly feel the divide between me and them. I was not part of the crew and it was as simple as that.
Beyond that, Seraphine had been nice. She had explained quite thoroughly, might I add, everything about the system. Truly there wasn't that much to explain, it was quite simple, at least in theory. I still didn't quite get the importance of levels and classes, but I suppose that was stuff that would come with time.
She had also explained some of the history of the world and how it worked. From what I could take, the majority of the world were super fucking dangerous and really inhospitable for human civilization.
The Emerald Abyss, which was apparently the forest I had woken up in, was known as one of the more deadly areas, but that is only because it is a high magic area humans have easy access to. This was because it had several prominent rivers and even cities within it.
But wait, hadn't I just said that it was super dangerous? Sure, and it is. But as it turns out, basically everything that is dangerous and can kill you can't cross running water.
It varied from creature to creature how easily this effect could be overcome and how much water and how fast it needed to move to stop them. But as a general rule, any river couldn't be crossed.
Unless, of course, the creature was invited to cross. This was a bit abstract, but as far as I understood, any sort of invitation, being passive or active, created a kind of bridge in the magic over the river which allowed them to cross. I didn't quite get it, but I suppose that too would come at some point.
While sitting and looking out at the passing trees I noticed that the crew for the first time since I had gotten on board was beginning to move around checking crates and doing general work.
Seraphine, with a smile on her face, was moving towards me, saying, “We'll be getting to the city of Wilderdale Soon. When we are all set up with the ship and the local government, I'll be bringing you to some people that I know that should be able to help you set up.”
Nodding, I said, "I really don't know how to thank you. I have no idea what would have happened if I hadn't found you on that day. I will find a way to thank you at some point. I just need to sit down and think about some things first."
At this she smiled and said, "I'll be looking forward to it. But take your time. Don't take unnecessary risks. Too many people die doing that."
Suddenly concerned. "Die? I thought you said cities were safe?" Why would I die all of a sudden?
“Yes, cities are more or less safe. But the city of White Dale is mostly a city of adventurers, explorers and hunters. So quite a few young people die while trying to explore the Emerald Abyss. I do... Well, if you decide to do so, all I'm saying is you need to be careful.”
Well that sounds super cool. I might be able to use my invulnerability for something then. It would probably be pretty easy to make a boatload of money by hunting or stuff like that. I would however need some weapons to do that.
“Wait, is that what's in all these crates and boxes? Is it weapons and stuff like that?” I asked.
“Hm, no actually quite the opposite. Most weapons are made in Wilderdale. So we are probably going to buy quite a lot and sell them. What we have here is way more valuable here. It's food stuff. Wilderdale just isn't big enough to have any food production so food is quite expensive here. ”
Huh, I suppose that makes sense. Hadn't really thought about it though. But in a world where the only safe places are surrounded by rivers, I suppose food production would be kind of hard.
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As we got closer and I got my first look of a proper city in this world I can say that I was honestly surprised. I had expected it to resemble medieval England With small brick houses crammed together, stuff like that.
The houses were indeed quite cramped, but they were entirely smooth, more resembling concrete than brick houses. They were also quite a bit taller than I had expected. Around 5 or 6 stories. The houses didn't really have windows either making them quite depressive. if I'm totally honest I was super disappointed.
At least the harbor was quite impressive as things go. Dozens of ships all looking busy with people going off and on, crates being carried to and from. It was quite a sight.
The next couple of minutes were super busy but eventually the ship had been tied down and the captain had gone off with some official looking dude to discuss the sale of her cargo.
Just enjoying the sight of people being busy and a general city life, I waited on the boat while she did her captain stuff.
Eventually she did return and signal to me to follow her. Which I eagerly did, having looked forward to finally getting off this boat.
Walking through the city with the captain was certainly an experience. I will say that I did not expect it to be this crammed. Small alleys and the general height of the buildings made for a lot of shadowy cooks and nicks.
It would have been cool if it wasn't for the buildings being so uniform. Giant bricks without any flourishes or interesting details.
While walking I tried to find anything that was just mildly interesting. When suddenly I spotted it in one of the smaller alleys, Sitting with his or her back to the wall, I honestly couldn't see the gender. It was a kid, probably around 8 or 10 years old. I have seen videos about starving children in war torn or disaster ridden countries but it's honestly something else seeing it in real life. The kid was basically just a skeleton without any muscles or fat to be seen.
Without really knowing what I intended to do, I began walking towards the child, wanting to help in some way. Before I could take more than one or two steps toward the child, Serafil grabbed my arm and yanked me down the street, away from the poor kid.
“Seraphine , wait that kid we have to stop, we have to help it somehow.”
“Izze, I get it, I do. Wanting to help the poor and starving is commendable, but there's thousands of starving children in this city alone. Admittedly it is worse here than in most places, but you can spend your entire life and all resources in the world trying to help people and there will always be more.”
It wasn't that I didn't get where Seraphine was coming from. I mean even in my own world people had been starving or having similar problems. But it was just different when you were able to see it.
At that moment it really hit me. That kid was probably going to die of starvation if nobody did anything. And from what Seraphine had said, nobody would.
But couldn't I do something? I had access to so many classes, so many skills. Surely something would be able to help these kids.
At this very moment, I didn't care about any consequences. I didn't care about anything. I just wanted to help these people.
Mentally opening first my status screen. I intended to open next the skill selection screen but before I could do that another prompt opened.
Request :
strong emotion detected while interacting with the system Do you wish to grant all living and future bone
sapient creatures on this world the following skill?
skill:
The Divine Discipline of Hunger
description:
You may sustain yourself on only one grain of rice a month without any ill effect or malnourishment.
Message:
No child, man or woman shall ever have to go hungry again. So let it be.
Effective Time:
One day.
No Yes
Without thinking of the consequences or anything, I mentally clicked yes.