It was now four more months after I met with Jose and just over eight from the time I had arrived in Hekatondrona. In the first two weeks that immediately passed the meeting, I showed mastery of the Hekatondronan script in reading and writing to the point that Professor Farstrider acquiesced to my request to have free time when the other kids did. Even Olivia was allowed it, so there was no room to stand on after I began to read poems in the script without prompting.
After passing the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic tests I began to study other things. Professor Farstrider was only one of the teachers who taught the Darville children, and this meant I soon met the others. The master craftsmen in the town cycled through each week, and in that cycle, I met Calvin’s uncle Tyson, and Moriah's mother Maggie. There was a weaver, a shipwright, a bookbinder, a candlemaker, and surprisingly, no butcher.
The other teachers were Jose Porter, who was indeed our combat, strategy, and survival skills teacher. Marlene, who taught us religion and history. The castle Sous Chef, a skinny, rat-faced, and rather greasy-looking man named ‘Pete’ (and the way he said it made it feel like that was an assumed name) taught us about potions, mushroom and herb gathering, and basic housekeeping. He was surprisingly skilled with a needle and thread.
Professor Farstrider taught music and theater but also literature. To Rurin, Isabelle, their middle brother Brandon, and their cousin Lyla, Professor Farstrider also taught Advanced Magic Fundamentals and Illusion Magic. Magic Fundamentals were close enough to learning the laws of physics.
I wasn’t allowed to learn about magic fundamentals just yet; at least not in this system.
But I had free time, so when not studying one of those ancillary classes, I was in training. Calvin and his Uncle Tyson as well as the other carpenters helped me work on my woodcarving technique. Jose and Eris were my daily sparring tutor and partner, respectively. I learned more from them in that time than I expected to, even with the fact that as a child in my first life, I had been in quite a few scraps.
Jose had also taught me more about the system than had been revealed to me; and told me that contrary to what Charles had said, I need not wait to gain my first class. You could gain as many classes as you wished and have the experience and qualifications for. You just switched between them.
So now, I stood on a precipe. Lord Darville and his family, along with their aides, but excluding myself and the main castle staff, were all heading to visit Lady Darville’s biological family and would be gone for about a month. If I was planning on enough free time to investigate the primary dungeon I had access to in Tidewarren, I’d need to do it now. Another chance would come but who could be sure of when?
I looked over my class options once again:
[Class Options Currently unlocked:
Class: Guard – This is the basic warrior class, capable of magnifying their weapon feats and wearing basic armor. Guards gain automatic shield proficiency and provide a defense bonus to both themselves and their allies. Unlock Method: Martial Training for at least three months. In addition, level 5 skill in at least two weapon skills or level 10 skill in one weapon skill or at least six battles won with one weapon skill. Experience to the next level? 10
Class: Rogue – This is the basic technician class, capable of stealth and disabling locks and traps. Rogues automatically gain and lock and trap proficiency. Unlock Method: Skill ranking of six or higher in Analysis. Additionally, Skill rankings of five or higher in at least one craftsman skill, one athletic skill, one harvesting skill, and one combat skill OR a luck stat of 20 or higher. Experience to the next level? 10
Class: Apprentice – This is the basic student class. Apprentices have a bonus to gaining skill ranks and receive an experience discount to unlock classes that have a skill rank requirement where they meet the skill rank requirement. Unlock method: Automatic for children of craftsmen, level 3 skill rating in two crafting skills or level 5 skill rating in one crafting skill otherwise. Experience to the next level? 10
Class: Orphan (Class Unassigned) – This is the basic class of all classes. Those without assigned classes have the strength of being capable of progressing in any skill field despite mastering none. Orphans automatically increase the luck of their allies by five. Unlock Method: Automatic. Experience to the next level? 10
]
It was a tough choice, and each appealed to me. For now, though, I stuck with leaving my class unassigned. Protecting was useful but I wasn’t confident in it, and besides that, on this first adventure through the dungeon I was supposed to have backup in the form of the six. I knew from prior knowledge that Eris was a Guard, Alec had survival skills, and both Moriah and Calvin knew construction in their fields enough to help with deconstruction - and thus traps and locks. Even Kenneth and Kieran were useful. Apparently, despite being bakers, they were classified as having the Cook class that they practiced provided a skill for even apprentices to identify ingredients and edible foodstuffs.
Increasing their luck and allowing me to keep unimpeded access to skill gains was useful. Further, as I had tested already in spars with Eris, Alec, and Jose - the luck increase applied to my monster allies just as well as it did to my human ones. Additionally; I could switch to the other two classes I had as necessary and as I saw exactly what each of my prospective party members brought to the table.
So I checked the leather backpack in which I held the reliquaries of Baloo the Cerbearus and Bagheera the Ossicarn. Then I made sure my other supplies, including the mysterious shield-like egg and pair of empty reliquaries, were also in the bag. After double-checking the doublet I wore over my tunic and pants, I put the pack on and grabbed the iron trainee’s sword I had been given. Adjusting my belt and its scabbard, I sheathed it.
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***
We met outside the town gates, and I looked at each of them. Despite the age gap, only Alec and Calvin were taller than me, and each of them looked ready.
Moriah had a backpack that was both wider and taller than her looming over her head and around her. Despite the obvious weight of the thing, she was grinning with a maniac’s gleam. “What’s wrong, duckling? Never seen a girl with ream backbone?”
“Mostly just not used to what this Hekatondrona’s system is like. The fact is, anyone your age and size back on my homeworld? They’d be rippling with way more visible muscles than you have.”
My confusion was why it was even funnier when both Kenneth and Kieran looked at me and picked up their even larger packs; each one of which had dozens of pots and pans on it; and lashed to those packs with rope, twenty-pound bags of flour.
Which is why I was surprised when Eris was the one to defend Moriah. “Yeah, it takes some getting used to, but people here are strengthened by the system when they’ve embraced a class. Even a basic one, did my dad not tell you that?”
“If he did I must have missed it,” I answered.
She tilted her head and raised her eyebrow, as if asking me how I’d have missed that but didn’t verbalize it. Instead, she began an explanation. “Well, You get stat buffs each level, but at level 2 you gain a special skill and at level 4 the ability to use that special skill even when you’re not in that class. At level 8, you gain access to an advanced version of the class, some call it a prestige class.”
That changed some of my plans, but rather than hold up everyone I asked, “So I only see you Eris, Kenneth, Kieran, and Moriah are here. Have Alec and Calvin made it yet?”
“Nope! Why?” She answered cheerfully.
“I need to make some plan changes.”
I had seen how useful luck boosts were when I had thrown the rock on my first day and tipped the chicken cages. The mere five-point boost from Cadecoalt’s blessing had caused that, as far as I could theorize. So having a boost in luck for my allies, and possibly myself, no matter what class I was in? That’d be useful.
So while we waited I pulled up my character sheet with the menu and focused on the word ‘class’ mentally. When it opened up another prompt with my available classes, I threw the entirety of my current experience points in the orphan class. If I could get to at least level four with it, I could unlock that luck boost as a permanent trait no matter what class I had.
If I needed ten to get to level two in the orphan class, then surely throwing eighty points would get me to level four, right? I at least assumed it was; otherwise, with the ease that people got experience points, there wouldn’t be a need to go dungeon crawling just to get the experience to get people out of their apprentice class.
So I pushed the eighty experience points into leveling up the class. Even with the cost of the reliquary I had empowered, that should’ve left me with another ten to play with to unlock another class; thanks to the experience I gained from raising my short blades, mushroom harvesting, carpentry, and reading skills to a skill rating of five, as well as the experience gained from the various small events associated with that.
If kids got five points of experience for reading their first history textbook or novel back on earth, watching TV would be a niche hobby.
As the experience points slowly filled up a bar in my vision after I chose to spend them, I realized something was wrong.
[You have become level 2 in the Orphan class!]
[+3 Luck, +2 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. +1 Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. 2 Stat points to assign as you wish. You have gained a modification to the base class skill: Beginner’s Luck – Twice per day, you may activate this trait to provide a bonus to yourself and all allies. This bonus is your total effective orphan (or Orphan plus Orphan prestige class) level. Any luck increases you gain from effects also apply to friendly humans and monsters in your vicinity.]
[You have become level 3 in the Orphan class!]
[+3 Luck, +2 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. +1 Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. 2 Stat points to assign as you wish.]
[You have become level 4 in the Orphan class!]
[+3 Luck, +4 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. +4 Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. 2 Stat points to assign as you wish. You have gained the Beginner’s Luck class trait as a permanent trait. In addition, you may now utilize the Beginner’s Luck up to four times per day.]
I was satisfied with that, but then the experience bar continued to fill up.
[You have become level 5 in the Orphan class!]
[+2 Luck, +2 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. +1 Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. 2 Stat points to assign as you wish.]
[You have become level 6 in the Orphan class!]
[+2 Luck, +4 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. +2 Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. 4 Stat points to assign as you wish. Gained class trait: Beginner’s Eyes – A portion of your analysis skill rating is added to your weapon skill ratings for purposes of attack. (Upgradable) ]
[You have become level 7 in the Orphan class!]
[+3 Luck, +2 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. +1 Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. 2 Stat points to assign as you wish.]
[You have become level 8 in the Orphan class!]
[+3 Luck, +6 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. +4 Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. 6 Stat points to assign as you wish. You have gained the Beginner’s Eyes class trait as a permanent trait. In addition, you may now up to two times per day increase the percent of your analysis skill added to weapon skill ratings. Special Unlock: Orphan Class has transformed into Stranger class based on your Outworlder trait.]
[You have spent 10 experience points towards leveling Stranger to level 2. Your class skill for the Stranger class will be unlocked at level 2.]
That was not expected.
“Eighty experience points are all you need to get to the eighth level?” I asked the group at large.
“No, it grows like a pyramid. What class did you level up where it was all you needed?” Eris piped in, looking concerned.
“Orphan.”
“No one does that. They go to four with thirty experience, at most. Hope it doesn’t sabotage us.”