Chương 49: Class Ceremony

Day 86 Dydd Gwener Arturos 4th (Friday July 4th) The next two weeks passed by in a flash. I watered the wheat one last time to see if I could get some extra yield out of it. The entire field was beginning to change to a lighter green as it matured. It wasn't quite gold yet, but we were only a month away from harvest. I hired a Reaper Thresher team to harvest the wheat on the 12th of August. We'd planted a couple of weeks after everyone else, so we were at the back of the queue.

The corn would be harvested by hand on September 20th. I only hired one team, but they were supposed to be able to harvest up to three plots in three days, so even if I had a massive harvest they should be able to get one plot done in that time. Contracts were pretty cool in this world, and they provided a surprising amount of worker protections, at least the ones I was dealing with did. They also guaranteed a set of workers.

Back home we'd had more than one person show up for the first day of harvest and decide they didn't like it. The next day we'd have a truck sitting idle because the worker hadn't even bothered to call in. Hire a Reaper Thresher Team – A reaper can cut and process up to 2 standard plots per day. Charged on a per day basis. (50G per day, 20XP per person provided by the System) – Available R/T Teams – 3. Make sure to schedule your R/T Team early. Hire for Harvest – Hire a worker for harvest.

A standard team is 6 workers who should take 3 days per plot of land. You are expected to provide food and lodging. You should hire a single team for up to 3 plots of land. (10G per day per worker. 10XP per worker provided by the System.) Available Harvest Teams – Plentiful I had been confused about the System providing XP for the workers since I was also earning a large amount per month, but Emily told me that essential functions like harvest were always provided for by the System.

That was to ensure a farmer didn't have crops rotting in a field because they didn't have XP to hire a crew. That wouldn't benefit anyone. Having domestic helpers and farmhands wasn't necessary if you stuck to a single plot. I'd had a little more difficulty hiring crews to dig potatoes. At home, we would spray chemicals on the potatoes to kill the top plant and harden the skin. Then, we would use huge digging machines to pull the potatoes out of the ground.

A conveyor belt on the digger loaded the smaller 10-wheeler trucks that would take them to the home place, where we had a sorting machine set up to sort potatoes for different uses. After sorting, they'd be loaded onto semis to go wherever they needed to go. Some would be stored for later use, including for seed stock for the next spring. Damaged ones were usually sent somewhere to be made into hash browns or animal feed. Here, the whole process would likely take two to three weeks.

We had to be done before Samhain on October 30th, or there would be a huge financial penalty for keeping laborers in the fields past the official end date of harvest. With the quicker growth buff taking a week off of growing time, plus the time crunch, we would begin digging them up right after the corn was harvested. It was a good thing potatoes were going to be a massive windfall because I had to hire three teams of workers for three weeks to be certain I had everyone needed to get the job done.

That would be 1, 800 gold before the tents and food. Probably 2, 000 - 2, 200 gold total. The Trade Guild had been alerted to my potatoes, and they were supposed to be sending someone out from the capital to talk about things sometime in the next month.

We all got up before daylight on the morning of Colin's sixteenth birthday to get the chores done early and by 6: 30 a. m. we were ready to head into town. The Newtons had been kind enough to lend us horses from their stable to make the ride in easier. We had scheduled Colin's Class Ceremony for 1 p. m., so we would have plenty of time to get into town, get our rooms, and freshen up before the ceremony thanks to the horses.

Our ride in was uneventful, but it was hot enough now that the plains grasses were starting to brown, and the road to town was getting dusty. I didn't love the heat without air conditioning, but my levels did seem to grant me some protection against it. That was definitely a blessing. Ever since I was a kid I'd preferred to be a little too cold versus being too hot. It didn't help that I was a sweater. My feet tended to sweat even when it was cold outside. My levels helped a bit with the sweating issue.

And for some reason my lack of deodorant wasn't such an issue anymore. That couldn't be my level, since even Colin didn't smell terrible when he hadn't bathed in a few days. It wasn't that we didn't smell at all; it just wasn't the pungent odor it had been at home. It was hard to explain. I guessed we all just smelled more earthy. Heck, maybe my nose had just adjusted to no one using deodorant?

I didn't think that was the case, though, because most people weren't using perfume to mask their odors as far as I could tell. I knew Emily and Colin weren't. I'd asked about it, in the least creepy way I could. Neither of them had any other frame of reference to work with, but even after I'd explained "armpit smell" to them, they said everyone they'd ever known smelled like we all did now. On the dry grass topic. I was actually concerned about fire danger with all the dry grassland around us.

Once the Guild rep came and went, I would probably bring the tractor out and plow a firebreak around us to be safe. Emily said they hadn't had to deal with any fires in the years they'd been on the homestead, but there had been a few fires on the plains. A Water Wizard could deal with them easily, but we didn't have one around us, so we would have to be proactive just in case. Once we made it to town, we all used the facilities to make sure we were looking our best.

My best was definitely looking better now that I'd lost twenty pounds of fat. I'd gained some muscle back, but I was now only 215, down from the 230 I'd been when I got to this world. Emily had even had to take my pants in a couple of inches because they were so loose! This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. We had a hearty lunch at the inn, and Ben Collins had even given Collin a brown ale with his lunch.

He was now a man in the eyes of the System, so he could have a full beer! Colin was clearly nervous, and he asked for a second beer. His mother frowned, but Ben and I laughed, and despite Emily's protests, a second beer was placed in front of the young man. He pounded it, then told us he was ready. I laughed again. Then it was time to go see if Priest Lewys was as good a man as I hoped he was. As we approached the System Temple, Lewys was standing in front of the closed church doors.

Instead of his usual grey robes, he was dressed in robes that were pure white. The crimson trim still adorned the robes, and his skullcap was the same white with crimson trim. As we approached, he put both hands out in front of himself and said, "Halt!" We all did as we were told. Luckily, Emily had given me a basic rundown of the ceremony, so I wasn't alarmed at the priest's words. Once we'd stopped, Lewys continued on.

"For what purpose have you come here today?" Colin responded, "I am here to receive my classes on my sixteenth birthday as the System prescribes." Lewys nodded and said, "And is there proof that this is your sixteenth birthday?" Emily stepped forward then.

"I am this young man's mother and I can attest that I gave birth to him sixteen years ago on this day." Lewys looked at her, then back at Colin.

"Thank you, good woman. Now young man, you have been vouched for, and no doubt your mother remembers your birth well." Everyone had a good chuckle at that.

"But," the priest continued on, and his eyes flashed blue.

"The System provides us with a way to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt who you are, and when you were born. Please share your System Information with me." Colin's eyes flashed blue as well, and Priest Lewys nodded.

"Good," he said.

"Your records confirm your identity, and the date of your birth. You may now enter the Temple. Do you wish these two people to witness your class ceremony?" Colin spoke quietly, his voice a bit shaky, but not stammering.

"Yes, sir." With that, Lewys opened the doors to the temple, and the four of us walked inside. I hadn't actually been inside the temple yet, and the interior surprised me. I had expected something more pagan-looking because of the holidays and Merlin and Arthur's apparent involvement, but it looked like a Protestant church for the most part.

There was a central path, with rows of wooden pews to either side, that led to a central area that had a wooden railing with brass corners that contained a dark grey obelisk with a rounded top. The obelisk was thin enough my arms would touch if I wrapped them around it, and it was only four feet tall. It had no writing or adornment that I could see. On the other side of the obelisk was more seating.

The front of the temple had a raised platform made of the same dark grey material the floor and obelisk appeared to be made of. A dark brown wooden lectern sat in the front middle of the platform. There were sets of stairs on both sides of the room, with the bottom steps beginning just before the platform and going up towards the front door. There were two VIP-looking seating areas up top. The room was lit by floating orbs that emitted a bright white light.

There were so many lights that the room cast almost no shadows. This was definitely magic, and it was fairly impressive for being so unobtrusive. The temperature in the room was just about perfect. I didn't see any fireplaces or obvious central air, so they must have used runes to keep things at a constant comfotable temperature. Lewys led us to a section of the railing that swung out. He opened it up and ushered us inside.

Once he had closed the railing again, he told Emily and me to stand to one side, and he led Colin towards the obelisk. Once Colin was standing in front of the obelisk, Lewys began speaking again, "Colin Lloyd, right now you stand before this symbol of the System as a child. Once you have grasped the obelisk you will be given two classes. And then you will be a man in the eyes of the System, and of the Albion Empire."

Emily's gasp of joy caused Colin to look at his mother in annoyance and Lewys to look both amused and annoyed. His look said, I can't believe you would have doubted my adherence to the System. After the interruption, he continued, "You will receive a Primary class, and a Combat class. Your Primary class will be Homesteader. You will have three subclasses to choose from, Farmer, Rancher, and Woodsman. Choose wisely. You will also receive the Militia class.

You will have three subclasses to choose from there as well, but as you no doubt already know, you should choose Ranged." Colin nodded and looked at Lewys expectantly. Lewys smiled, "Ah, I can see you have studied up on the ceremony. Do you have any questions about your classes, or what will happen when you put your hand on the obelisk?" Colin only shook his head. Lewys nodded and in a booming voice said, "Good, then Colin Lloyd, I bid you to bind yourself to the System and to this land.

Choose your classes and become a true citizen of the Albion Empire!" Colin did as he was bid, and only a moment after he touched the obelisk, the ceremony was over. It felt sort of anticlimactic because of System Time. Who knows how long it had been for Colin, but in real time it took less than a second. As he turned around, Colin pumped his fist in the air. Lewys gave Colin a quick hug and then led the three of us out of the enclosure.

Once they were all seated on the first row of pews, Lewys said, "Well, how'd it go? How many levels do you have already?" Colin was trying his best to be respectful, but he was clearly excited.

"I'm a level 10 Woodsman already!" All our eyebrows raised at that, and Emily exclaimed, "Truly? Already?"

"Ma," Colin said, "I've been hunting for years. I'd been skinning them already, and the rabbits brought me a lot more pelts this year. I've had to do a ton of foraging as well. I got a bunch of XP over the levels for that." Lewys smiled sadly and said, "You have had to take on a lot of responsibility for your age. Luckily, the worst of those times seem to be over." Next, he looked at me and Emily.

"Now, I expect the two of you to be here for a wedding no later than Samhain. It wouldn't do to get married any later. I know that Bhealtaine is the preferred time for first marriages, but since this definitely isn't Miss Lloyd's first, then Samhain is the appropriate holiday." I fell silent in shock. Colin laughed out loud, and Emily turned beet red, but her gaze was solid as she looked at me.

"Acceptable, if Mr Jacobson agrees."