The group waited for Brandi and Thomas to return with the bats. While waiting, Derek pulled Gracefall’s storage ring out of his bracelet and went through it. There was some good stuff in the ring, but Derek could only sigh because he knew he would be keeping none of it.
“I goooot them,” a small, feminine voice rang out behind them. When Derek turned around, he saw Brandi and Thomas back from their task. “That was hard. They were scattered everywhere,” Brandi said.
Derek just nodded and smiled. “It’s good that you thought to collect them. They are all level 100. You should be able to make some good stuff.”
Brandi’s eyes shone. “That’s great.”
“Okay, it’s time to go. We’ve been away from the village for too long already. I’m sure that someone probably thinks that the adventurers ran into trouble by now,” Derek said, and the rest of the team agreed.
“Let’s go.” He walked forward and placed his hand back on the dungeon orb. The others followed, mimicking his movement. Soon, the orb found that everyone was there and gave him the options. Just to make sure, he checked the status of the dungeon. The status had changed from ‘Extreme Overflow’ to ‘Stable.’ Relieved, he let out a breath.
Rayna also looked happy as she must have also checked the dungeon status. “Now, we can only hope that this stops the spread of the disease,” she said.
Derek nodded and focused his attention on ‘Leave Dungeon.’ The countdown began, and before too long, the light overtook them and they disappeared.
The team soon found their footing, and they were back at the dungeon entrance. A notification appeared in Derek’s vision, but he promptly ignored it to focus on what had to be done next. He looked around for the best place to use for his plan. Not far in the distance, he found a tree. Actually, upon looking, he could tell that the tree had already begun to heal itself, and the dreadful aura that had been emanating from the dungeon orb had lessened considerably. It was now almost nonexistent.
Derek walked over to the tree. After a shake of his hand, the noble’s body appeared. He gently set the body down, leaning it against the tree. Then, he took two storage rings, one of his own and the one Thomas gave him, and laid them on the lap of the corpse.
Following that, Derek pulled the storage ring that belonged to the noble out. He began pulling out health potions that the man had stored. Bringing one to his mouth, he tested it to make sure that it was a healing potion. He removed some empty flasks from his own bracelet and emptied all the healing potions into his own vials. No sense in letting all this go to waste.
After emptying all the noble’s health vials, he dropped half of them on the ground beside the corpse. Then, he took about a third of what he assumed were mana potions from the noble’s ring. Verifying their contents, he stored them in his own bracelet. Got to make it look like he at least used up some of his supplies while in the dungeon.
Derek continued doing small things like this for around ten minutes. Soon, he found that everything looked ready. Grabbing the hand that the ring was originally worn on, he placed the ring back on. It pained him that he was going to be losing three storage rings at once, but with his new Void Storage, it made it somewhat easier.
Now for the final steps. Derek poured mana into his storage bracelet once again. This time, the severed hand of the Acidic Ghoul appeared. Carefully, he took the tip of the blade-like fingernail and cut a small slit into the side of the corpse’s neck. The acid began doing its thing immediately.
Why did I have to break this guy’s neck? It would have been easier if he would have died of internal injuries. At least then I could have let the acid run rampant in his body without having to worry too much. Derek carefully watched the acid spread. Soon, it was through the body’s neck and began eating away at its spine. The break in the neck soon vanished.
Here goes. Derek began casting Cure Toxin on the acid. The acid visibly slowed but continued eating through the body. Soon, he cast the spell again, then again, then again. After a few more casts, the acid slowed to a crawl. At this rate, it will be weeks, maybe even months, before the acid will spread through to the rest of the corpse.
Based on his previous experience with the acid, Derek had made it look like the healing potions and the few poison cures he found had healed the man long enough that the spread of the acid had been reduced. Unfortunately, the adventurer seemed to have run out of potions before the acid ran its course.
Other materials lay beside the noble, making it seem like he tried everything he could to remove the acid. There were remains of clothing where he had tried to wipe it off, only to spread it further. It was too bad that in his panic, he never thought about cutting the toxin out. If he would have done so before it spread, he would have been able to heal himself from the self-inflicted surgery.
Or at least, this is what the carefully laid story seemed to tell. Derek looked down at his finished project and nodded. I think this is as good as I’ll be able to do. Hopefully, they don’t send someone out who investigates things like this for a living.
After finishing, Derek turned and looked at the others, who had been quietly watching him all the while. Rayna visibly shuddered when his gaze caught hers. “Remind me not to piss you off in the future,” she said.
Derek laughed. “Noted.” He then continued, “Brandi, come here. The rest of you, make your way out of this clearing. I don’t see or hear anything, but you should still be careful. I’m going to cover our tracks, then follow you out.” The group all consented, then began slowly moving back into the forest.
Derek lifted Brandi up and began removing the traces of their team from the clearing. Soon, they were all back in the forest, and Derek had caught up. “Alright. It’s time to head back to the village. Let’s see if we can’t get this girl to level 10 while we’re at it.”
With that, the group’s dungeon farming was over. It was time to head home.
One week later, a group of tired individuals stepped out of the forest. They had hurried back and had not gotten good rest in the last week—well, they hadn’t gotten good rest for far longer than that, but the anticipation of returning home had made them all fidgety and kept them from having a good rest while in the forest.
“Finally! We’re out!” Brandi jumped for joy. She had been level 10 for over four days now, but Derek had talked her into waiting until she got home before choosing her class.
“Almost back. I hope the village has been doing well while we were gone,” Rayna said. She was clearly nervous about her village. She and Derek had gotten a lot closer during their time in the dungeons. She didn’t act anywhere near as cautious around him now as she did before. She had actually hit level 50 too and was waiting to return before upgrading her class.
“A bath. That would be nice,” Thomas said. Derek was happy with the boy’s progress. He had matured quite a bit since the first dungeon he ran with him. He’d taken to the spear quite nicely. It was almost like the weapon was made for him.
“Something other than monster meat would be good, too,” Malorie spoke up. She had never expected to reach level 30 in her lifetime. Now, she was the second strongest person in the village, and even though fighting wasn’t what she wanted to do, she still loved using the bladestaff.
“I’m just disappointed that the unicorn boar meat tasted identical to regular pork. Don’t get me wrong, I love bacon and pork chops as much as the next guy, but I was hoping for something… magical,” Derek replied. Derek had actually had quite a bit of fun on these dungeon runs. It was the first time in a long time that he felt good in a group. He actually looked forward to chatting a bit with the bartender back in the village.
“It would be nice to sleep in an actual bed,” Derek said. He had been the lookout the whole time they were gone, so he spent most of his time in meditation. It was about time for him to actually get a good night’s sleep.
Soon, the group arrived at the outskirts of the village. Rayna sighed in relief at the sight. “Whew. At least it’s still standing,” she said as they walked toward the front gate.
Two guards were waiting in their positions when the group approached. The gates opened without a word, and the team walked inside. The guards greeted Rayna before closing the gates behind them and getting back to their duty.
“Finally! Come on, let’s see what I get!” Brandi yelled and began sprinting to her residence.
Derek smiled and jogged behind. This was something that he was quite interested in, too.
When Derek turned the corner at Brandi’s residence, he saw her sitting on the bench in the courtyard. He stopped, standing there silently, awaiting her class choice. The others soon arrived behind them.
“I’m going to find Leon and the others and see if anything has happened since we’ve been gone,” Rayna said before walking away.
Derek nodded and looked at Thomas. “You better go check in with your grandma.” He smiled. Thomas agreed and left.
Now, it was just him, Malorie, and Brandi. He watched as Brandi’s facial features went from frustrated to surprise to awe, and many other emotions. She was taking a much longer time than any of the others. Derek was proud of this. It meant that she was being much more serious about her decision than Thomas had been.
He knew that he really shouldn’t play favorites, but even with Thomas maturing while in the dungeons, she was surpassing him in every way except for fighting. In fact, he had a plan for the girl if she were to unlock a powerful class. It was actually the reason he brought the mother and daughter with him. Rayna, on the other hand, well, he had grown to enjoy her company.
Time slowly passed. Damn, she is really taking her time. Derek figured she was going over every possible class, no matter the rating. That was something that he did for his first class from the other system, so he could respect it.
Finally, she opened her eyes with a frown on her face. “Derek?” she asked. “Could you help me?”
“Huh?” He was surprised, but happy, that she would ask for his help. “What do you need help with?”
“After looking at all the classes, I have two that I want. One sounds amazing, but the other is… well… odd,” she said.
“Oh? What are your choices?”
“The first class that I want is called ‘Talon’s Protégé.’ It’s an amazing Leatherworking class. It is an epic rarity…” She paused as Malorie let out a loud gasp. After her mother calmed down, she continued. “Apparently, Talon was a legendary Leatherworker from a long time ago. The class comes with 20 stat points per level and five unique skills when unlocked.”
Derek cursed the system again. Why does her epic class get five skills when I only get two? This is unfair. He thought about it a little longer and calmed down. I guess she really won’t have any combat skill with it.
Derek asked the girl more about the class. “You said that he was a legendary Leatherworker? Does that mean that the class is a growth type and your class will eventually become a legendary class, too?”
“Mhm,” she said. “That’s what the description says. But it isn’t a growth-type class. It says that…” She paused and seemed to focus. “‘As a protégé, you will never be able to surpass your master while under her wing.’” She read the exact description from the class select.
“It’s an epic class! That’s amazing, honey.” Malorie couldn’t help herself and blurted out, “It doesn’t matter if it won’t become legendary.”
Both Brandi and Derek ignored her outburst. Derek spoke. “So, that means that as long as you have the class, it will always be epic.” Derek thought for a minute. “So, in order to surpass the epic rating, you would have to switch classes at some point, and that is if one is ever offered, and you would risk losing any exclusive class skills.” Derek nodded his head.
Rare was the bare minimum class for my plan, so this is already great, Derek thought. “I imagine that a lot of the skills you learn will be usable across several Leatherworking classes. It’s really not a bad choice. What is the other class?”
“It’s called ‘All Smith.’ It’s rare and a growth class,” she said.
“Woah, the name isn’t great, but, being a growth class, it will end strong. What does the description say?”
“Umm… It says, ‘Become an All Smith.’ That’s it. That’s what’s odd,” she replied.
“Does it say anything about skills?”
Brandi shook her head. “Nothing. Other than the one sentence, it doesn’t say anything.”
“Well, the name is pretty self-explanatory. I imagine it is a class that can use multiple crafting professions. You will probably be a Leathersmith, Blacksmith, Tailor, and maybe more, who knows? It’s rare at the beginning, so it will be easier to get initial levels,” Derek explained.
She nodded. “That’s what I thought. Which should I choose?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It’s your decision. I will say that ‘All Smith’ will probably be amazing. You probably won’t ever have to worry about material for leveling either. If you run out of hides, you can use bones for armor or weapons. If you run out of that, there are plenty of plants to use for cloth. This is only my opinion, but if it were me, I would choose ‘All Smith.’ The other one will be good too, especially if you really want to focus on Leatherworking. But, in the end, it is your decision,” Derek replied.
The girl scrunched her face. “You’re no help.” She pouted.
Derek just shrugged and gave an odd smile.
Brandi closed her eyes again, and Mal and Derek waited anxiously for her decision. Finally, Brandi let out a breath, then promptly fainted.
Derek dashed forward and caught the girl before she hit the ground.
“Brandi!” Malorie screamed as she ran forward.
Derek scanned the girl and used Identify. Seeing that she was in good health and was only unconscious, he let out a sigh of relief. “She’s okay. I think she was just overwhelmed with the class information. I think she chose ‘All Smith.’”
“Let’s get her inside,” Malorie said.
Derek nodded and picked her up. He followed Mal around the corner and into the residence. He laid Brandi down in the common room and sat with his back against the wall. Then they waited.
A couple of hours later, Brandi opened her eyes and sat up from her mother’s lap. She seemed to be in shock.
“Brandi! Are you okay? How do you feel?” Malorie said.
“I… I’m fine,” she answered as she looked around.
“That’s great,” Thomas said. Derek was still sitting against the wall, but now the boy was back and sitting next to him.
“So, do you know what happened?” Derek asked.
The girl nodded her buzzed head. “The skills. I got them.”
“What do you mean?” Derek asked.
“The skills, they were free. Picking the class automatically unlocked them. I didn’t get any skill points,” she clarified.
“Oh? That’s okay, I guess? Was it ‘All Smith’ that you chose?” Derek asked, and she nodded in agreement. “Well, it’s a bit of a rip that you don’t get any extra skill points for general skills, but not having to pay to unlock them is good. How many skills did you get, five? Ten?” he asked.
Brandi shook her head. “Four… Forty-two,” she answered.
The entire room was dead silent. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. This girl had chosen a rare class and unlocked 42 skills all at once. After a while, Derek finally reeled himself in.
“How? Just what can you craft? What did you learn?” he asked.
Brandi closed her eyes and focused as if trying to put things in order. “I’m able to craft a lot of things from Armorsmithing, Weaponsmithing, Leatherworking, Tailoring, Alchemy, Woodworking, Sculpting, Brewing, whatever Engineering is, Enchanting, Gemsmithing, and Runesmithing, and I got some Cooking, Mining, Herbalism, and Painting skills. I don’t know why I need Painting.” She shook her head.
This is crazy. She could literally become an unkillable monster with just the stuff she crafts. Enchanted cloth and leather armor with enchanted weapons and drenched in accessories. While having a cooking buff and downing potions. Using runes as weapons—if they work like they did in my old system. I want this class… AND SHE CAN MAKE BEER! Maybe even beer that can give me a buzz. That ale that tastes like piss couldn’t do anything to me with my endurance and vitality. Derek was beside himself. I have to change my plan and put more into this girl. She’s a national treasure.
Derek shook the excitement off. “Don’t tell anyone about your class. If anyone asks right now, you got a rare crafting class that lets you dabble in different crafts. I’ll think of something else later because that plan will only last while you’re at a low level. The main thing is that you have to get strong enough so nobody messes with you. I’m not going to always be around to protect you.” Derek thought about something after that. “What about stat points? Did you get 15 like a normal rare class?”
Brandi frowned. “I don’t have any stat points to use. Let me check my stats.” She focused in front of her. Her eyes shot open in surprise. “I got four points into everything. My dexterity and endurance are a little higher than everything else now because of the points I spent before to get a good class, but it looks like everything increased by four.”
Soon, Brandi jumped up. “I’m going to go use my new skills to make something.” She ran to the door, then outside, leaving everyone sitting in the room in stunned silence.
Eventually, Derek stood up and walked back to the courtyard. Brandi had her knife, which was now glowing, cutting into one of her hides. She was extremely excited. She turned and saw Derek and held up her knife. “This sharpens my knife and lets it cut smoother. I can also use a skill on the hide that works with my will to help prevent bad or uneven cuts. I have another one that lets me up the quality at the end of a leather craft. Those are my only three Leatherworking skills, but I think I can use one of the Tailoring skills to help with Leatherworking, too.” She went on gushing about her new class.
Monster, she’s going to be a monster. Derek sighed. “Well, remember what I said, and don’t let anyone know about your class. And I know I told you all before, but keep your storage rings hidden for now.”
“I know. Thank you, Derek. I would have never gotten this far if not for you,” she said and ran over and hugged him.
Derek patted her head. “It’s fine. Work hard. I’m going to go get a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Brandi released him, and he turned to walk away. Then he stopped. “Maybe with your newfound skill, you can make me some new T-shirts.” He chuckled and continued walking.
