The cold lump of ice that had settled in my chest began to melt. After I had closed the door, I turned and saw the small neatly made bed walking towards it. I sat down. 'Sigh', my Dad could be alright. He was a Park Ranger for the nearby Mammoth Cave National Park and was only 10 miles away roughly and I could have walked there by now. However, my Dad had a rule: if something happened, stay put or close as safely as possible.
My brothers thought about a whole other story as they were both far away. One was in the Navy and God knows where and the other worked as a mechanic down in Texas. Unfortunately, both were unreachable at the moment, but as soon as things hopefully return to normal, I will check up on them.
Taking a few calming breaths, I turned my attention to the conversation I and the Old Man had. It was Enlightening, to say the least; everybody had the same Physical stats, mostly with there only being tenths of point in variation which meant whatever was in charge of deciding what a point was worth deciding that there was a substantial difference between us was too small to count. If there was some way to gain stats then I could only imagine how powerful we could become.
The mental and soul stats, on the other hand, showed clear differences between people. I said the highest Stat was Luck, followed by intelligence. Whatever Luck did I crossed my fingers that it was substantial.
Now, though, I had focused on the other and much longer topic of discussion. In classes, everyone had at least one Class Slot; most had two, and some had three,e like me. Most people had Common classes to choose from; some had Uncommon,, like Mrs. Gonzalez, or Rare, like the Old Man himself.
I, on the other hand, only had [Scholar] above Common with at Uncommon. However just because it has more 'Inherent' skills does not mean I am going to pick it.
I pulled up the character Sheet and then focused on the [Press Here] adjacent to the Primary Class.
...
[Available Rank One Classes!]
[Squire]
Rank One Class-Common
This class signifies the Owner as beginning the path to true Knighthood. The Most Important Skill: Maintaining Armor and Weapons. If you take care of them, they will take care of you.
Inherent Skill: [Arms Maintenance]
-Arms Maintenance Lvl: 1
Grants Basic skills in Maintaining basic Gear.
...
[Pickpocket]
Rank One Class-Common
This class signifies the Owner as beginning the path of Thief. A pickpocket is not a combat class, but it's not without its virtues.
Inherent Skill: [Sticky Fingers]
-Sticky Fingers Lvl: 1
Makes your fingertips better at sticking to unowned objects at command and makes the owner of said object slightly less likely to notice based on the difference between their perception and your skill.
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[Apothecary's Apprentice]
Rank One Class-Common
This class signifies the Owner as beginning the path to being a true Alchemist, turning the objects around you into true potions, although as an apprentice, you can only prepare basic Ingredients.
Inherent Skill: [Prepare Ingredients: Basic]
-Prepare Ingredients:Basic Lvl: 1
Grants Basic skills in preparing basic alchemical ingredients.
...
[Brawling Initiate]
Rank One Class-Common
This class signifies the Owner as beginning the path of a true brawler. Though right now you're only a baby with anger issues.
Inherent Skill: [Tough Knuckles]
-Tough Knuckles Lvl: 1
Grants a boost to the durability of your knuckle bones and how fast they regenerate.+5% Durability to knuckles and +2% regeneration to Knuckles.
...
[Scholar]
Rank One Class-Uncommon
This class signifies the Owner as beginning the path of a true Mage. Though as a scholar, you don't yet have access to magic, you can surely memorize and organize information!
Inherent Skills: [Memorize] & [Organize]
-Memorize Lvl: 1
It grants a heightened memory for the information you have read and gives a Minuscule chance to remember forgotten information.
-Organize Lvl: 1
You are now slightly better at organizing information both in your head and in real life.
...
I had read through them so I just scanned through them. [Squire] sounded useful, though it heavily depends on what is classified as Arms in this case. I can immediately write off [Pickpocket] as it was useless in my current situation. [Apothecary's Apprentice] would help care for the wounded, and there might be a hidden synergy with Mrs. Gonzalez's Class [Apothecary]. The last class's description was kinda insulting in its description, [Brawling Initiate] inherent skill [Tough Knuckles] also was kinda useless cause I couldn't imagine it making my fists stronger than the baseball bat I already had. Then there was [Scholar], my single Uncommon Class Option. Now, don't get me wrong, I would have killed to have this back in school, but I had a distinct feeling that one, a lot of my peers had access to this class, and two, that in my current situation, having this class would be useless.
I mentally ticked off [Pickpocket], [Brawling Initiate], and [Scholar] from my picks. This left me with [Squire], a class that clearly turned Combat Oriented or [Apothecary's Apprentice], something that could help in the following days but could leave me vulnerable if things turned sour.
I couldn't choose because one felt selfish and the other was useful only in a group scenario on my own. I'd be unable to protect myself as well as if I picked [Squire]. Taking a deep breath out I rummaged through my pockets until I found a small quarter.
If my luck was double the average person's, then maybe it could help me out. I chose [Apothecary's Apprentice] as Heads and [Squire] as Tails and put the coin on the tip of my thumb and flipped.
It spun the air several times as it made its way upwards. As the pull of gravity started to drag the coin downwards, I opened my hand, presenting the palm of my hand open,n, and the small coin landed squarely in the center. I then smacked the coin on the back of my left and revealed the choice.
The American Eagle holding a torch in one claw and a bundle of something else in the other. Tails, I scrolled up the screen to the top and selected [Squire].
...
[Primary Class Selected]
You have selected the Rank One Common Class [Squire]
The Squire Class gains skills related to basic combat, Horse handling, Armor, and Weapon Upkeep Slightly faster.
...
[You have Gained a Skill]
You have gained the Skill [Arms Maintenance] by it being the Inherent skill to your class.
...
[Do You want to view the details of your Skill]
Y/N
...
By the description of the class by the System, it seems as though you gain skills besides just those given to you by your class. Reading through more of the notifications I didn't see much else. Reading the prompt I decided to see if it offered more information or not on my new Skill.
...
-Arms Maintenance Lvl: 1
Grants Basic skills in Maintaining basic Gear. The Cornerstone skill for any true warrior, you can level this skill by routinely cleaning and doing minor repairs on your gear and others.
....
Hmm, that definitely helps with determining how to 'level up' my skill. It is also nice that I can do so by doing the same for others, though I suppose that makes sense for a [Squire] class to do so.
The skill seemed to add knowledge that I didn't have before and made knowledge I already had on the subject more accessible and clearer. I picked up the [Louisville Slugger] that leaned up against the bed, and like a strike of lightning, I knew what I needed to do to get the dirt and grime off.
I went over to the nightstand where the Old Man kept a Chamberstick, basically a candle holder with a handle on it that he had bought at the nearby Antique Shop. Lighting it with the matchsticks in the second drawer of the nightstand I moved to the door opened and stepped into the Hallway. I heard the sounds of Mrs. Gonzalez and her helpers tending to the wounded on the floor below and made my way to the bathroom across the hall from my room.
As I neared I didn't see any candlelight coming from the bottom of the bathroom door. Grasping the handle, I opened it,, and like most places In Welton Mano,r, it was like a blast to the past. I quickly moved to a small cupboard situated above the toilet and opened it, and there I found a couple of bars of soap. I only needed one so I grabbed it and closed the cupboard doors. Then I grabbed a spare hand towel and began to operate the small hand pump sink. It took a while, but eventually,y, I wetted the hand towel. Then I left the bathroom and returned to my room, and after closing my door I placed the Chamberstick on the nightstand.
In the candlelight, I began to apply the soap to the wet hand towel. Placing the [Louisville Slugger] on the bed, I began to move the hand towel in a circular motion along the length of the bat, freeing it of the dirt it had accumulated over the years. I went over the bat three times with the hand towel.
I began to inspect the bat, and I noticed some of the really small scratches along its surface had completely disappeared, not all of them, mind you, but a few. I might have been imagining it but I think it was my skill at work.
That night, I felt as if many things were uncertain, but my world had changed massively, and I would like to think a small part of me changed a little bit to adapt