Black Mould - Three - Plunging into the Deep End

I had two concerns.

First, if I didn’t know how classes or the like worked, was it possible that by picking a class I was going to make a big mistake.

Second, how in the heck did magic work? And did I need it?

In my previous life, I was a scientist, which was... perhaps pretty far from magic. But if magic was a real thing here, then obviously it was practically my duty to do what I could to research and learn about it.

I needed to be able to communicate, and soon. That, or I could take a huge risk. This was frustrating.

I fell asleep annoyed and woke up just as frustrated when my mom picked me up and brought me to the dinner table for breakfast. My father grabbed me at some point and placed me on his lap. He started tapping his chest and saying something over and over. “Dada. Da... da.”

Oh. Well, that was unreasonably cute, this big buff fellow, all scruffy looking but still clearly happy just to make silly baby noises at me. My mother laughed from next to the stove, and he waved her comment off with a chuckle of his own.

Well, if I wanted to learn how to communicate... “Dada,” I said.

He gasped, his entire face lighting up. Nodding, he repeated himself. “Dada!”

“Dada,” I agreed.

My father... Dada, I suppose, was ecstatic, a huge grin on and tears in his eyes. He spoke fast to my mom, who came over and gave us both a hug. He repeated ‘dada’ a few more times, and I obliged him.

My mother looked one part proud, one part envious. She started tapping her chest and saying... it was strange, I was expecting ‘mama’ or perhaps ‘momma’ but the word she used sounded more like ‘myang’ with the y part stretched out. Whatever language they spoke, it didn’t share any roots with English.

I repeated what I guessed was baby for ‘mom’ and she broke into peels of giddy laughter.

I received my share of hugs and forehead kisses and was even twirled around a few times by Dada, much to my giddy delight. I probably didn’t deserve the praise, but I’d be lying to myself if I said it wasn’t enjoyable to some degree.

All good things came to an end though, and I was brought back to the old lady’s place. She nodded along to my mom’s eager words, then I was placed on the floor and my parents went off to what I guessed was work.

I crawled closer to the old lady and stared up at her.

Come on, gramps, I thought, give me some words. Fill up that vocabulary of mine. I couldn’t work with just two sentences.

Unless click and clack were words, then I was fat outta luck.

Maybe I’d get a general skill for learning more about the language at some point. In the meantime, classes.

[Child of Labour {Common}]

Born of workers, you are predisposed to long hours and great productivity. You require less rest, and will gain bonuses for labour and production.

Class requirements: Working-class guardians. Under age 13.

Class Skills: Work-related skills, [Precision {Common}], [Stable Minded {Common}], [Tinkerer {Uncommon}].

So, each class had a set of requirements then. So perhaps by doing more, and achieving different things, I could unlock better skills. The requirements here were out of my control, but I had a feeling that wasn’t always the case.

The class skills didn’t seem terrible, actually. Useful things to have, but... well, if I was being honest, the idea of being a common labourer wasn’t appealing.

[Mechanic’s Child {Common}]

Child of a Mechanic, you will inherit the eye and skills of your guardian, gaining faster growth as long as you are being taught to follow in their footsteps, and gaining a knack for fixing and maintaining machinery.

Class requirements: At least one guardian with the mechanic, machinist, machine tinkerer, or related classes. Under age 13.

Class Skills: Machine-repair related skills, [Mechanically-Inclined {Uncommon}], [The Knack {Common}], [Tinkerer {Uncommon}].

Another perfectly acceptable class, at least from what little I could put together. It was more focused than the [Child of Labour {Common}] class, so maybe it would allow further specialisation down the road. I wasn’t too keen on engineering or mechanics, but someone who was might appreciate the class.

The mention of growing faster was interesting too.

[Factory Bound {Common}]

Born in one of the Cities of Industry, your path will inevitably lead to the factory. Produce, work, and produce more.

Class requirements: Child of Poverty {Common}, birth within a City of Industry.

Class Skills: Factory related skills, [Line Worker {Common}], [Stable Minded {Common}], [Dulled Time Perception {Common}].

Oh. I stared at that class description for a good long while. It told me... a lot about the kind of world I was in, actually. I had just discovered that at least one parent was a mechanic of some sort. Now this was proof that we lived in an era where factories and industry on a larger scale were commonplace.

There was more I could infer too, of course.

If industry was so great, then there was a certain level of technology available out there. Our frankly terrible living conditions then were because... because that’s how the poor lived. This wasn’t some fantasy world where people who were poor were honest poor, making a living off the land and doing what they could to get ahead. The poor here were poor because they were handed out the leftovers.

Maybe.

I could be wrong.

My pessimism was telling me I wasn’t.

At least I had a possible out.

[Myko of Feronie {Uncommon}]

Miko of the Goddess of Nature, one who worships and aids in her worship, leading others through the rites and rituals of a fulfilling life and assisting in making the world a gentler place.

Class requirements: Any Blessing of Nature, an understanding of natural laws, the attention of Feronie.

Class Skills: Nature-aspect Ritual magics, [Blessing of Growth {Uncommon}], [Mycologic Harvester {Uncommon}], [Chant Rites {Common}].

A sort of... quasi-religious class? Interesting. If my suspicions were correct about Feronie, then this was a class entirely about worshipping her, or helping others do so. That could be a path out of doing menial labour. Working at a temple or something could be interesting. The harvesting skill being there hinted that maybe the worshippers of Feronie did agricultural stuff.

It would make sense. Nothing really set the class apart in terms of rarity. Maybe the difference between {Common} and {Uncommon} wasn’t so great. Or I just didn’t know what signs to look for.

It could literally be about the number of people with the class in the world, in which case a class like this being less common than a mechanic just made sense.

[Agaric Cleric {Rare}]

Enamoured with the fungi and spores, you seek expertise and search for power through unusual means. Untamed nature and its cycles of decay and rebirth call to you, and in answering, you understand Feronie’s will.

Class requirements: Any Blessing of Nature, A General Skill relating to fungi or mushrooms, A desire to grow past your current predicament

Class Skills: Skills related to nature magic and fungal growth, [Mycologic Growth {Uncommon}], [Druid Sight {Uncommon}], [Mushroom Magic {Rare}]

That was a lot to work through. Another quasi-religious class, but with fewer... religion things mentioned. That could be good. The rarity seemed to really make the skills shine, if that was how that worked. Two uncommons and a rare skill! Also, magic. That was important, even if it was [Mushroom Magic], whatever that was. My [Mycologic Harvester {Uncommon}] skill was changed to [Mycologic Growth {Uncommon}] with this one.

Maybe if the temple idea didn’t work out, I could work at a mushroom farm. My parents had some in their meals sometimes, so someone was harvesting them.

Of course, none of that might mean anything. The next class was {Legendary} which had me excited.

[Rotter {Legendary}]

Sickened by the state of the world, you are ready to take things into your own hands. Watch the world rot, and be the fever that rids it of its sickness. Immune to your own contagions, you will be the start of a cleansing plague.

Class requirements: A powerful Blessing of Nature, the attention of a god, a sickness related to unnatural pollutants

Class Skills: Skills related to death and decay, [Blight {Epic}], [Curse of Nature’s Wrath {Rare}], [Ritual of Sporemageddon {Legendary}]

Okay, what the heck.

Although... [Sporemageddon] did sound kind of awesome.

In fact, most of the skills sounded really cool, but in the way a fighter jet was cool. Sure, it was impressive, and it probably went fast, but you couldn’t use it to go buy milk.

If I was going to be living a normal life, then having nothing but lethal skills was probably going to set me behind the average person who had skills that could earn them a living.

Nothing I’d seen so far indicated that this world was dangerous, just... probably not ideal.

I sighed and flopped onto my back to stare at the dusty ceiling. There was plenty of time to figure things out.

I just had to exercise some patience... oh boy.

***