Ozzy had been thinking all day about his next steps. Staying at level 10 wasn't a good option. He could raise some skills, but it meant nothing since he could just as quickly raise those skills at level 11, gain experience to his stats, and hit level 12. He imagined the option was there in case there was another class he wanted to earn. He supposed this was a bigger problem for players than for contract workers. A warrior might keep working to be a paladin by doing quests. Lots of classes had upgrades.

But for a contract worker, things were more limited, especially the bulk of the workers that hadn't done as much or been in crazy situations. You were still going to be a contract worker, no matter what, which meant that you were blocked from taking all the normal skills that other classes could get. You also had to keep working for your corporation and doing your job.

Ben had been keeping track of what classes each person was offered before they attained tier 2. Fully 70% had been given options such as Veteran Beekeeper, Abundant Farmer, or Skilled Woodworker. While upgrades, these classes mirrored their classes in tier 1. Workers that spent time in the dungeons killing creatures with adzes or the clever use of skills were increasing their stats, which seemed to give better classes. Master of Bees, Valiant Farmer, and Arcane Woodcrafter had all the skills of the lesser versions, with some nice advantages. And that could mean a lot moving on to tier 3 if they could get there.

Luckily for quite a few of Sedgewick's workers, the wars with Momco. and the Oaks had provided a chunk of CSP, as had dealing with the Starspawn. What the world threw at Sedgewick next was scary to think about and another reason he was anxious to get home. But he had to admit that his adventures had given him a nice batch of options.

Congratulations! Through heroic deeds, luck, and killing dangerous foes, you have earned the option of moving to Level 11!

-You must spend all experience and CSP earned in Tier 2 before moving to Tier 3.

-You must select one of the offered classes for Tier 3.

-If you choose not to move to level 11, you stay at level 10. You will not earn more CSP or experience that you can apply to your statistics, but may work to earn other class options and attain higher ranks in skills. Please note that this will make it more difficult to gain experience in Tier 3. The choice is up to you.

Class Options:

Contract Worker: Ordinary Butcher +2 CHR, +2 WIS, +2 stats of your choice.

A nice, safe choice for those who want to avoid complications. You can sink into your profession and enjoy the serene life of a local butcher. Spend your days cutting up rabbits and pigs, smoking sausages, and running a butcher shop. Dungeon Bosses won't try to tempt you into joining them and the Legion isn't going to conscript you for the next war. You are hidden from those who might suspect there is more to you than a simple village butcher. Kick back and enjoy life.

Gain Perk: Not the maniac we are looking for.

Gain Perk: Part of the town, nothing special.

Gain Perk: I've got Quests!

Contract Worker - Seasoned Pit Master +3 CHR, +4 Free stat points.

No longer an apprentice, you have earned the title of Seasoned Pitmaster. You have slaughtered tasty critters and cooked them in your pit, learned the ways of Smoke and Heat, and gained secrets only available to someone who has sailed the Seas of Smoke. The Seasoned Pit Master class enhances your skills as a butcher, adding magical skills that use Heat, Smoke, and Chains. You learn more recipes to create magical foods to enhance the abilities of warriors and mages who dare to eat your cooking.

Gain Perk: My pit, my rules.

Gain Perk: I've got some really hard quests!

Contract Worker - Enraged Slaughtermaster +5 STR, +5 Con.

You have slain animals, humans, undead, and monsters with no hesitation, reveling in your fury. You are adept with weapons and killing with your bare hands. Bathing in blood and bone puts a smile on your face. This class will give you extra combat options, increase your ability to do violence, and take away any bits of guilt you have left about bathing the world in gore. Cook up your slain enemies to steal their power.

Gain the Primary Skills: Blood Frenzy, Weapon: Cleaver, Weapon: Hogsplitter and Feel No Pain

Gain Perk: Vengeful.

Gain Perk: Command the Horde

Gain Perk: Into the pit with you!

Contract Worker - Dungeon Pitboss +3 COR, +3STR, +2CON, +3000 Health

Time to Move on Up to the big time. There's a spot for you in the dungeon! Clock in each day in the dungeon: Pit of the Butcher, and get to work chopping the meat. (Including adventurers.)

Gain Weapon skills: Cleaver, Hogsplitter, Huge Jawbone

Gain the perk: Like a Boss!

Gain the perk: Rapid Respawn.

Gain the perk: I'm keeping some of your toys

Gain the perk: One of the boys.

Gain the perk: Chained to the job.

Gain Minions.

Contract Worker: Captain of the Smoke +500 Smoke, +500 Heat, +2 Aura, +2 Shielding, +5 CHR

To hell with the Conjunction; the Smoke is where you want to be! Gain a ship and crew of your own. Turn pirate or fight for the queens! Or sail with Admiral Woodrat as his Flag Captain. There is a small possibility that ACME opens up a trading post in the Smoke and will need your services as a captain of a merchant vessel if you take this option.

Keep the Perk: Marked by the Burning Man

Gain the Perk: Known to the Queens

Gain the Perk: Ship of my own.

Contract Work: Arcane Pit Master +3 INT, +3 CHR +500 Mana

You return from the smoke more of a mage than a butcher. You continue to practice the magic you have learned and combine it with cooking from your pit. Create powerful magic foods. Summon and bind elemental creatures. Study in the Arcane Libraries of the Empire and discuss magical theory with opinionated wizards who haven't ever stepped into a dungeon. Hunt down rare creatures, butcher them, and use their parts in your arcane experiments.

Gain access to more spells.

Gain Perk: I'm a Wizard!

Gain Perk: Exotic Spellcaster

Contract Worker: Apprentice Griller +2 DEX

Learn how to use and clean a grill. Work 12 hours a day as a short-order cook.

Gain Perk: Deal with Kobolds without stuffing them down a hole.

Gain Perk: Foods Up!

Gain Perk: Personal Instruction in the ancient art of Combat Grilling

His class options this time weren't boring, even Ordinary Butcher had some advantages. Seasoned Pitmaster was a direct upgrade to his current class and promised to let him keep or improve upon the skills he had earned in the smoke. Apprentice Griller he would pass on without further thought, it almost looked like a swap to a new class. The other four classes all had an element of fun to them, but also down sides. Captain of the Smoke meant staying here, something he wasn't willing to do. Maybe he could convince Suzette, Ben, and Rolly to join him? Ben would love it, for sure.

Dungeon Pitboss had great benefits and a whopping +3000 health. It might be fun beating up on adventurers and taking their stuff. But Chained to the Job had some nasty implications. Enraged Slaughtermaster looked like a beast of a melee class but said little about barbeque, smoke, or his pit. Plus, he had enough trouble with his temper without adding Vengeful and Bloodfrenzy to the mix. Maybe if Momco started another war? That would be the class for smacking around Brandon and his army.

Arcane Pitmaster swung the other way, going deep into magic. Did that imply his odd smoke and heat abilities could become spells? He also had radiant and fire aspects. He knew so little about the magic system in Genesis that he couldn't guess. So far, it had been damned hard to gain spells. Suzette had her odd assortment of cantrips, and Ben had picked up some paladin magic in his travels. Rolly's healing wasn't even really magic. He used stamina to mold someone's flesh and repair wounds. He said it worked a lot better on sedge beasts than humans.

The best strategy was to keep his options open for next time. If he worked on gaining some more spells and cantrips, some version of Arcane Pitmaster might still be available when he was in a better position to take advantage of it. Visiting an Arcane College was outside his immediate future.

So really, Seasoned Pitmaster was the progression he needed. When he returned, he should have the tricks with Smoke that Joe sent him here to learn and a tier 4 Pit to work with. The bonus of +3 CHR and +4 other stat increases was good. That was looking like the best way to go.

So where to spend those points? He needed to increase his cap on INT by 4 points and RAD by 1. He'd already earned those points, and he hated losing them. He could also buy another point of RAD for 3 points. COR had proved very easy to increase in the smoke, and he didn't want radiance to fall behind. That was 13 points out of 40.

Looking over his options, he could buy Mitigation 4 for 15 points and increase his damage with his fists again. On the other hand, he could now spend points on Captain Perks. There were options for more RAD and COR, both of which were important in the smoke. Radiance also added to the damage he could do to the undead. He had a score to settle with Hungrytown. If that giant ghoul showed back up, he wanted a rematch.

He decided against spending three points for +1 point of radiance from Spirit of the Angels. Better to use the option of paying five and getting +2 RAD from Captain's Brilliance. With 25 CSP left, he bought Mitigation 4 for 15 points. He was undecided on the last 10 points and looked at options for an hour, finally going with the second level of Extra Health for +100 Health and the first level of Extra Weapon Damage for +5 damage. He needed to work on both of those things in tier 3. They started low but quickly became very good if you had the points for them.

The experience he put into Bull Leaping and Run the Chains. That brought agility up to 6, tied with wisdom. Perception lagged behind a 4.

The last decision was his captain's specialty. There was a lot to think about here. Would the bonus from Follow me to Hell affect a group in a dungeon? Or the increased loot from Crazy but Lucky, could that affect a loot chest in the conjunction? Of course, he needed to get back to the conjunction first. And that thought made it an easy decision. Jack had given him shielding for a reason beyond just keeping him alive for the moment. He went with the +2 increase to Shielding solely because a crazed god had thought that giving him the skill was important.

With everything done, he moved to Level 11 and Seasoned Pitmaster.

His vision blurred and he felt tired. Far more tired than he had been in ages. The world seemed to spin fast; chains reached for him and dragged him down into darkness. From out on the deck, Butterbelly herd a loud thump and then snoring.

"Good, he needs to get more rest if he's going to start courting my sister."