System Change

Derek turned the corner and saw Brandi sitting on the bench in her 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 to 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 surprised to awe, and many other emotions. She was taking a much longer time than any of the others. Derek was proud of this fact, it meant that she was being much more serious about her decision than Thomas had been.

He knew that he really should not 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 just enjoyed her company.

Time slowly passed. Damn, she is really taking her time. Derek figured that 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 of 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 Protege.’ 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 different 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 decided to ask 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 protege, 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, it doesn’t matter if it won’t become legendary.” Malorie could not help herself and blurted out.

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 different 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 that it is a class that is able to 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 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, at 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. 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 the duo waited.

A couple 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 burred 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 could not 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 Armoursmithing, 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! 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 is a little higher than everything else now because of the points I spent before to try 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 also cast a spell 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, but 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. He stopped. “Maybe with your newfound skill, you can make me some new t-shirts.” He chuckled and continued walking.