“The past is a great tool to predict the present and future. Generals and Kings rely on books and artifacts that tell of a time long past to prepare for what is to come. That, however, will not work in this case. This is a problem that can't be solved by relying on what we have knowledge of. Void, a god long thought gone, has started a realm event and, with it, an integration. That god brings a link for the traitor gods who were cast out to return with followers in the hundreds of thousands. Those old and new gods were cast to another realm for a reason!” Priest of Yalldar during the council of priest

Alteration

Alteration, Altan, as called by his family, finished pulling the hoe through the last of the soil. It had taken half the day to pull up only a small patch of the field, and now he'd have to go over it by hand, pulling out the weeds and roots that could interfere with farming. Those pieces of the earth wouldn't go to waste, though. No, any piece of the earth could be given back to improve how well his family's crops grew. In this case, it would be as compost after spending a few months in a box with dirt and worms. He grinned to himself. What his father told him always turned out to be true.

“Altan! Dad! Mother has lunch ready! She made talusko on a stick with fresh bread.” Lilan, his sister of only seven seasons, called. I turned towards the house before looking at Father. He'd managed six times the amount of land that Altan had, but he said that was because he had his system unlocked and had leveled his class and skills, which helped him.

Altan, seeing his father give permission to go eat, set down his hoe and started to move towards the house while thinking of the system. After a moment, he pulled up his own countdown until he unlocked it.

[Time remaining until system unlock: 2 Years, 24 Days, 13 Minutes, 53 Seconds.]

Altan sighed. He couldn't wait until his system was unlocked and he could be a real help to his family. Turning around and walking backward, he looked at his father, who was walking towards the house as well. “Dad, how long did you have to wait for the system to unlock for you?”

“Same time as anyone, Altan. The system doesn't pick and choose and turn around before you fall and hit your head.”

“But you say work requires two steps forward and then a step back.”

“Son, you know that's not to be taken that literally. It means do your work, make your progress, and then take a step back and make sure you don't forget or miss anything. Like that rock.”

Rock? Alten thought right before his foot slipped, and he started to fall backward with a yelp. His father, reacting faster than Altan could see, reached out a hand, catching him by his shirt. “That's why I also tell you to keep an eye on what you're working on.” Pulling him back to his feet, his father patted him off and gestured to the house. “Let's go eat.”

Altan was distraught as he explained his class choices to his father. He had just turned fifteen and had his class up, but there had been no farming options. Of the two he did have, one had been a logger and the other an alchemist. They didn't have a forest near them, so he'd chosen an alchemist, but he didn't know what it did. Sobbing, he laid his head on the table. He didn't know how he was going to help his family now.

“Son, classes don't mean everything. You still pick up general skills and some basic farming skills. You'll do well, and the skill you got from your advancement might be able to help with farming. Have you taken a look at them?”

Alten, rubbing his eyes, shook his head. The class had been an uncommon one; was his father right?

“Remember what I told you?” His father asked him

“Take two steps forward and one back?” He asked tentatively. He couldn't see how that would help him now.

“Yes, son, you've taken the first step, and now you need to take another. Don't fall down and give up. The system gives up classes for a reason. You just don't know yours yet.”

Altan looked at the fertilizer in the bin with concentration. There was something missing. He could feel it. His class skill, Alchemist's Insight, told him so. He just couldn't figure out what the other was. He'd spent half the winter trying to figure it out, and he'd sit here the rest of the winter if he needed to. He was going to help their family grow the best crops he could.

He'd figured it out! It was a rock, as silly as that sounded. All he had to do was grind it up and add it to the compost. At least, he thought that was it. The rocks had been in the nearby hills, and the recent rain had uncovered one. When he found it while picking berries, his skill had told him it helped plants grow. Now, he was testing it. Father wouldn't let him put it in the ground until they had tried it on one of the potted plants. As he mixed the rock dust and soil together, he was surprised to see a screen popup in front of him, letting him know he'd gained a new skill: Alchemic Gardening. He smiled. Gardening wasn't farming, but it was close.

Turning his head, he looked at his father, who was planting this year's seeds with his sister. If this worked, maybe he would be able to find more ways to help. Stirring the dust in, he sighed. His class needed to level for him to help, and so far, It hadn't.

Two harvests in one year! The rock powder had worked well! It had required no stop working for Altan, moving rocks from the hill to his house and mixing the dust into the farm soil, but it'd worked! The crops were bigger and growing faster. The pride in his father's and mother's eyes made him swell with joy. At this rate, they'd have to hire people to help with the farm if they wanted to harvest it all before winter.

When he'd asked his father if they should share the rock powder, he'd Said it was Altans' choice.

So, during the winter festival in town, he set up a stall next to his family's and saw if they could make extra coins with it.

Alten was nearly eighteen and had only gained two levels, but that didn't matter to him. The level of his skills was close to even outshining his father. He had already advanced three of his passive skills that had to do with alchemy twice. If he advanced them again, he only wondered what they could become. Those were the thoughts in his mind as he walked into town. Today was a big day as a caravan with unique supplies was making its way through the town. With the coin from selling the dust, he'd started calling Passim to other farmers. He was starting to become, if not wealthy, then well off. It meant that he could do what his father always quoted to him and take a step back. He'd done all he could with the Passim that he knew of, which meant that it was time to find a new ingredient. What better place than the caravan with times from far away?

“Brother, brother!” Altern turned his head to see his sister running up to him. She was ten now and still carried the stuffed cow mother had made for her when she was five. He smiled as she caught up to him. “Mother said I can walk down with you and help Father today with selling the crops!”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“That's amazing, Lona. I'm sure he'll be grateful for your help.” Alten reached out and ruffled her hair, earning a squeal of protest.

They met their father sitting in his stall and, after letting his sister hug their father before he asked the question, eating at him. “Has the caravan arrived yet, or has there been any sign?”

His father raised an eyebrow. “Is the coin you've earned this harvest weighing you down that much?”

Alten rubbed the back of his head. “No, Father, I suppose I'm just excited to see what I can find.”

His father let out a chuckle. “You're eager to explore the possibilities of your class? I remember only a few years ago, you thought it was the worst thing to happen to you.”

“I've grown, but I still think a farming class would have done us better, father.”

His father snorted but didn't have a chance to say anything else before the ringing of bells started signaling the arrival of the caravan.

Alten was struck dumb as he looked at the man. Another alchemist from a city and he was here to see Altan. He looked between his father and the man as they spoke.

“He's shown great potential for his craft, making do with the resources in this area. I'm willing to pay well to take him on as my apprentice.” The alchemist called Rorthon said

“His choice is his own, but I would like to speak to him alone first if you would give us a moment.”

The Alchemist nodded, taking a step back and folding his arms, hiding them in the long sleeves of his robe. No one out here wore robes like that.

As his father gently but firmly pulled Altan behind the stall and far enough away where the man could not hear them, he spoke. “Son, I believe you should go.”

For the second time in a few minutes, he was struck dumb. Go? Why should he go when the farm and his family are here? “Father, that doesn't make any sense. I want to stay here.”

His father sighed and patted him on the shoulder. “It's an opportunity you can pass up. Alchemists looking for apprentices are rare, and the chance to advance your class is something that couldn't be gained here. You're eighteen now and have yet to gain a handful of levels. Unless you want to fight the beast in the swamp, then there is only one way to advance, and that is completing your craft.”

They debated for close to an hour as the sun rose, but eventually, Alten was forced to give in when his father told him that his sister would outpace him as a house maiden and would become the one who took care of him. He couldn't have that.

Alten looked at his family, tears still in his eyes as they waved from the town. He was a distance now with the caravan, his clothes and keepsakes in my bag. He'd miss my family, but he'd come back with coin and knew knowledge as soon as he could. He'd make his town into a city and advance through the grades. When he did that, he would make it to where his family didn't have to work unless they wanted to. Until then, he'd follow what his father had said and take a step forward by practicing and learning from his new teacher and become the best alchemist he could.

Aster

I blinked as I looked at the stone wall, the image of my family waving at me as I left the town, a fence of purpose and hope in my stomach. Wait, that was wrong. I wasn't walking away. I was sitting down in a dungeon. I was Aster not Alten. I furiously shook my head as the memories of Alten dimmed to vague thoughts. For a moment, I felt confused about where I was, but it cleared in an instant as my tail twitched.

Alten had been a farmer. I'd been a farmer. The way to plow a field, to paint the seeds so they got the right amount of water when I...no Alten watered the fields, or it rained.

Wow, this was confusing. As I focused on myself again, I noticed the screens in my vision, purple ones.

[New skill gained - Basic Planting - Rank 1]

[New skill gained - Basic Plowing - Rank 1]

[New skill gained - Basic Plant Harvesting - Rank 1]

[Notice all skills required for basic farming have been gained. Skills Basic Planting, Basic Plowing, and Basic Plant Harvesting have been merged into the skill Basic Farming - Rank 1]

That was super unhelpful. Like, I was grateful I gained the skill and might find a use for farming, but how in any god's name would this help me?

Standing and feeling my entirely too stiff muscles loosen, I looked around and rubbed my face, making a loop of the hallway, watching as the numbers ascended and then descended. Was there a solution, or was this really just a trap I triggered and couldn't escape without a particular skill or spell?

Destroying things didn't work, and walking the same path didn't. While the skill didn't provide an obvious answer, it provided a break. Walking down the path, I rubbed one of my ears as I walked and, with nothing better to do, went over the snippets of memory Alten, or rather Alteration, had provided.

The biggest thing that stuck out to me was that he only had one class. No race class was anywhere to be seen. It brought up the idea or theory in a book I'd read with Umbra. System Update. The idea is that the system itself improved after receiving a certain amount of information over a few thousand years. Seeing as it was considered a minor topic in the book and that an update hadn't happened in the two thousand years of history written down, I was inclined not to believe it. That was until now.

Alteration had only had a single class, and everyone Alteration knew had unlocked their class at the same age. Unless the skill made up the memories, I felt, it was proof of system updates, but it brought up another question. Why had the system updates stopped?

Another question that confused me. Why Alteration had received the Alchemist and Logger class, it made no sense. Shaking my head and running fingers through my tail. If I could complete this dungeon and the next one with Umbra, then we could take a step back and look at what we had to do next before the realm event. Like Alteration’s father had said, two steps forward and one back.

I nearly tripped as I went over those words in my mind and clicked. Was it really that simple of a puzzle? If so, I'd give this dungeon a piece of my mind. Looking at the numbers, I walked to the end of them and watched as they started counting down backward. It couldn't be this simple. It couldn't. Turning around, I took a step backward, then another. As I walked, I focused on not tripping over my own feet. As the numbers got lower, I couldn't help how stupid I felt. Had I gotten this desperate?

My ears popped, and I felt a rush of fresh air flow over my face as the area around me warped. I looked around, noticing the stones had nothing written on them. For a moment, I wondered if the trap had reset, but then I spotted in the distance something bright green, unlike the moss around me. Looking up at the ceiling angrily, I shouted to no one.

“What fucking dungeon makes someone walk backward to solve a puzzle. It's just stupid,” I muttered the last words under my breath, and not expecting a response, I started to move down the hallway, keeping an eye open for anything suspicious. I only paused when the hallway began to open wider, and a sign appeared. I read over it with interest.

Welcome to the Village Of Salem, Population 0

As I read it, I watched as the zero changed to a one. Oh, Awesome! It was a magic sign. The idea of trying to take the wooden sign twice my height with me to look for the runes it must have was put to the side as I remembered that I couldn't use my spatial storage.

Grimacing, I looked past it at the open area. It almost looked like a proper Village. There were six buildings made of thatch and wood and a dirt path leading to each of them. Above it all was another glowing orb, but much bigger than any of the ones in the hallway, and it cast enough light to illuminate the entire area. Moss covered the wall completely, and vines grew down from the ceiling almost to reachable levels where flowers started to bloom.

It was surprisingly beautiful and ominous looking. As if alerted to my presence by my gaze, a howl sounded echoing off the walls of the room that was cracked and sounded all wrong.

It seemed I'd finally reached the second floor.