Chương 132: Penicillium - Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One The next week or two were busy. For me, they were hell. I kept upping the dosages on the poisons I was using while tending to my farm. It meant that on most days I was sick with something. Sweats, fever, the shakes, too often digestive issues or strange audible or visual hallucinations. Sometimes breathing issues, though I tried to avoid anything that caused those. My lungs were fragile enough as it was. Meanwhile, things in City Nineteen heated up and then calmed down.

The factories that had been sold off were rebought. Industry slowly filed back into the city, taking advantage of people who were desperate for work, regardless of the cost. A goblin pen had been set aflame at some point, and from what I heard, a few hundred died in the fires. It meant that some of the cheap labour that they had brought was gone and now there was more room for human workers. Sickening, but not unexpected.

I watched it all from my little corner while raising new, more potent mushrooms, while tentatively dipping my toes into alchemy by mixing poisons together to see if their combined effects would stack, and while working hard to grow my skills. It took all that time before I finally started to approach my goal. I even gained a level in [Knitting]. The situation outside calmed itself bit by bit.

The riots settled down, in part because the previous riots didn't help, and because it was hard to stay angry on an empty stomach. The news that I could get, journals and newspapers from the nicer parts of the city that I paid Bet to grab for me, didn't report on the casualties, just on the loss of income. I wished someone would take a picture of the streets lined with open doors, bodies piled up on the sides for the Brothers of Dearil to pick up. In the end, it felt like none of it really mattered.

The wheels of industry chugged on. And so did I. I hit my five hundredth level three months after leaving the Ditz Dungeon, and soon after turning eight.

Name: N/A Alias: Ginger Race: Human {Common} Age: 8 Years Mana: 54/60 Primary Class: [Feronie's Crusader {Epic}] Afflictions - Black Lung {Common} - Child of Poverty {Common} Blessings - Blessing of Feronie {Unique} Feronie's Crusader Class Skills - Level Two Hundred Sixty-Nine - Aura of Growth {Rare} - Level Seventy-Six > [Shaped Aura] > [Careful Casting] > [Unrestricted Growth] - Blight {Epic} - Level Sixty-Three > [Persistent Death] > [Rigour Mortis] > [Infection] - Ritual of Sporemageddon {Legendary} - Level Twenty > [Apocalypse Walker] - Druid Sight {Uncommon} - Level Fifty-Four > [Druid's Sense] > [Druid's Ear] - Mushroom Magic {Rare} - Level Fifty-Six > [Super Shroom Zoom] > [Mushroom Remaker] General Skills - Level Two Hundred Thirty-One - Running {Common} - Level Fifty-Five > [Surefooted] > [Sprint] - Knitting {Common} - Level Sixty-Five > [Patterner] > [Clicky Clacker] > [Resizer] - Basic Poison Resistance {Common} - Level Thirty-Four > [Mana Bleed] - Social Manipulation {Uncommon} - Level Thirty-Three > [Too Cute to Kill] - Poison Handling Expertise {Rare} - Level Forty-Four > [Iron Lunged] > [Toxicant Sense] I set down the tools I'd been working with as I felt a familiar ping telling me I'd gained a level.

It was in [Mushroom Magic] for what it was worth. Not that it mattered. This pushed me into level five hundred, and that meant... something, I hoped. [The following secondary classes are available!] [Mechanic's Child {Common}] [Death Crafter {Uncommon}] [Dungeon Delver {Uncommon}] [Skullcap Witch {Uncommon}] [Mushroom Merchant {Uncommon}] [Three Faced Assassin {Uncommon}] [Mycology Mixer {Rare}] [Angel of Death {Rare}] [Rot Spreader {Legendary}] I grinned. There they were!

A fresh batch of new classes to check out, to help me grow, and to push me forwards. I dropped back onto my heels and let out a sigh. This was a long time in coming. Now I just had to hope that one of these had the skill I needed, or was strong enough to push me in another, better direction. There were a good number of {Uncommon} classes there, which was good. The {Rares} were what tempted me, but I decided to go over them in order. Starting with [Mechanic's Child]. That one was... lingering there.

A present from my father, I supposed. One that never left. I considered it, but only for a moment. It was weak, didn't suit me, and... no, I couldn't. I was doing enough for emotional reasons, wasn't I? [Death Crafter {Uncommon}] Having dedicated hundreds of hours to the craft of poison making and the growing of poisonous herbs, plants, and fungi, you are becoming a crafter of death, able to kill the hardiest opponents with your concoctions. You could be reading stolen content.

Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Class requirements: Over 100 beings killed with poisons of your making. Over 100 hours spent crafting poisonous brews Class skills: Skills related to the making of poisons. [Poisonmaking {Uncommon}], [Basic Alchemy {Common}], [Poison Resistance {Uncommon}] A decent first choice, and one I'd shortlist. Nothing to help me in the stealth and assassination departments, and nothing to mask my classes.

But lots of options to make me a better poisoner, and the [Basic Alchemy] skill was tempting. It would also, I imagined, take some of my General skills and free up those slots. That would be kind of useful! [Dungeon Delver {Uncommon}] Having delved to the very core of a dungeon, you are now on the path to becoming an expert delver. Class Requirements: Over a day spent in a dungeon, reach a dungeon's core Class skills: Skills related to dungeon delving.

[Trap spotting {Uncommon}], [Monster sense {Uncommon}], [Dungeon Pathfinding {Uncommon}] That was a weird, but not unexpected class. Hadn't Phillipe brought his son into the Ditz dungeon to get something just like this? Though I imagine the options he ended up with were better than this. The class didn't have any combat abilities either. Not for me. Though it would be useful in conjunction with [Ritual of Sporemageddon] in the future, if I ever planned a second attempt at that.

[Skullcap Witch {Uncommon}] Your interest in the arcane and lack of education combined lead you to the esoteric path of witchcraft, where gut instinct rules over pragmatic, rule-based control over the flows of magic. Class Requirements: Over 1, 000 hours spent practising magic, a lack of formal magical education, a knack for the magical Class skills: Skills related to witchcraft and fungal magics, [Herbology {Common}], [Instinctual Necromancy {Uncommon}], [Instinctual Ritual Magic {Uncommon}] Oh...

oh that was all very interesting. Insulting too, but not inaccurate. I could do a lot of harm with necromancy and ritual magics, I bet. But... I was a scholar, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to have to rely on my gut and on instincts forever. [Mushroom Merchant {Uncommon}] You have become known as a trustworthy merchant of mushroomy wares.

Class Requirements: Over 10 Pounds earned from commerce, a positive reputation as a merchant Class skills: Skills relating to dealmaking, [Art of the Deal {Uncommon}], [Bargainmaker {Uncommon}], [Fungal Enticer {Rare}] One of the first {Uncommon} classes I'd seen with a {Rare} skill in it. But it was a weird one. Not a class I wanted, but it was nice to see that the system acknowledged my honest dealing and that my entrepreneurship was worth something.

Maybe I'd pick up some of those skills as General skills later on. [Three Faced Assassin {Uncommon}] You have skulked about and plotted the demise of others with planning and purpose. You are an assassin, one who goes unnoticed amongst the crowd. Class requirements: A successful assassination attempt.

Heavy use of a disguise and social manipulation Class skills: Skills relating to disguise, subterfuge, and assassination, [Beguile {Uncommon}], [System Mask {Uncommon}], [In Plain Sight {Uncommon}] Should I have been disturbed by how easy it was to get an assassin class? Probably. I had to start thinking of ways to shield myself against the effects of the skills I saw here. In any case, this was it, what I was looking for. The [System Mask] skill was perfect.

A skill to let me change the appearance of my system on inspection. This was the class I had to pick. But that wouldn't stop me from looking at the others. [Mycology Mixer {Rare}] You have grown adept at mixing the mushroomy and at combining the fungal. Class requirements: Over twenty hybrid species created. Over 100 poisons and potions crafted. Class skills: Skills related to alchemy, herbology, and mushroom magics, [Mushroom Magic{Rare}], [Advanced Alchemy{Rare}], [Instinctual Potion Making{Uncommon}] That was...

not ideal, but not bad either. It was similar to the [Death Crafter] skill, but with a broader range, and it seemed to incorporate some magic into it as well. Maybe a combination of that witch class and the poison maker class? It was interesting, but not what I was looking for. [Angel of Death {Rare}] You have killed with a smile on your face, have shown others death with innocence in your eyes, and have guided to the afterlife without remorse or second thought.

You are angelic with the faint glow of a god's attention upon you, even as you murder your way through life. Class requirements: The attention of a god, over 100 kills of sapient beings, an innocent appearance Class skills: Skills related to assassination and manipulation, [Cherub of Death {Rare}], [Guileless Eyes {Uncommon}], [Unnoticeable {Uncommon}] Well then...