“I still don’t understand how that ability of yours works. I’ve honestly never heard of a class like that,” Elicec said to his brother as they made their way across the landscape.
“No one does, that’s the point. I got offered a lost class, and you can’t argue that it’s working pretty well so far. Sure, we had to have Pryte buy me that Crop Farming class, but the results speak for themselves,” Cecile said.
He liked his class, despite how much Elody had cautioned him about being careful with it. Apparently, some paladin classes were more likely to cause a stir than others, and this was one of them. She had promised to try and track down some of the books from the previous Paladins of Agriculture, but hadn’t been confident in how many she could find. Cecile didn’t care about the danger, though. This was everything he had wanted rolled into one.
“I just hope the Cactomen really have a rancher class orb for sale, otherwise we will have wasted a lot of time we could have spent helping with the evacuation,” Elicec replied. He was annoyed. That much was obvious, and Cecile wished they had a way to make this journey separately, because his brother was right.
There was too much to do, and as talented as the two of them were these days, they were still always stuck together. This was honestly something Cecile was surprised had come to annoy him at all. Not that it did a great deal, that was just the reality of being a Twinoge. But he wished he and his brother could be in two places at once more and more. They would be a much more formidable force that way.
“Even if they don’t, we can at least warn them about the core beasts. And yes, before you say it, I know we could have sent someone else on that task if it was just that,” Cecile replied.
“So what happens if this class doesn’t immediately give you what you need anyway?” Elicec asked, his tone softer, to his brother’s relief.
“I don’t know, we will cross that bridge when we get to it, though. How many of the Reltleons do you think will be willing to help with the crops back home?” Cecile asked, not missing the fact that he called Earth his home. He wasn’t sure when he had started to think of it that way, and as much as he wanted to save his planet, he wasn’t sure he’d ever truly leave Dave once they did.
“Hopefully, anyone capable. Do you know how many people are on that planet? It’s nothing like home. You are going to need a lot of help to feed everyone,” Elicec answered.
“Yeah, Dave gave me some numbers a while ago. John and I talked it over more. Right now, I’m nowhere near being able to feed everyone, but it inches closer every day. Distribution will be the next issue after we have the crops secured,” Cecile replied.
The reality that he was avoiding saying out loud, and had been for a while, was that he just didn’t have the crops to feed the world. He wanted to, and he was doing everything he could, but this class wasn’t growing fast enough to do this alone. It had reached a point where he was considering finding a plant or some sort of nature mana orb for the socket swap reserve gauntlet. He had barely even used the life orb yet.
In the distance, the Cactomen settlement was finally coming into view. Cecile was glad to see it, and although walking for a few hours no longer tired him out at all, he was still tired of the boredom of it. What they needed to do was important, yes, but other things always weighed on his mind these days. Was this what it had been like to be his brother before they left their village?
“Hey Elicec, do you think we are ever going to figure out the Soul of the Twinoge class?” Cecile asked. He quickly glanced at the status of that class as he asked.
“Eventually. We just need to understand what a Soul Coupling is. Once we figure that out, it should get a lot easier. I just wish Mom were around. She’d know what we needed to do,” he replied.
The mention of their mom sent Cecile down a path he tried to avoid these days. He missed his parents deeply. Both of them always had the best food saved for them after a hard day. Eventually, he would rescue them both, and then Rabyn and John could learn some amazing recipes from his mom. He wasn’t willing to consider the alternative.
He pushed these thoughts out of his active mind as they stepped foot into the settlement. Immediately, he spotted several Cactomen playing some sort of board game near one of the buildings. “Hey guys, so we’ve heard you may have a spare Rancher class orb,” he said cheerfully as they walked up to them.
“Yeah, I got one, though it ain’t going to be cheap, what do you boys have in trade?” one of the leaner Cactomen asked, as he broke away from his fellows toward the brothers.
“Well, first we’ve got some news. There is a swarm of core beasts loose, and likely now infesting the archives, so I recommend you all stay clear,” Elicec answered. None of the Cactomen seemed to react to the news.
“Already heard about it, been a problem for a while now, but nothing huge,” a different one said.
“Alright, just wanted to make sure you all knew before we left the planet. As for what we have to trade, the mayor of Smithtown is willing to offer the site of the town as well as any structures still standing to your settlement in exchange,” Elicec said, producing a piece of paper that said just that as he spoke. Cecile had been impressed that the mayor had been willing to go all out on this, but then again, they were leaving. The remains of the town had little value to them.
“Really, let me see that paper, and you probably have a deal,” the Catcoman with the orb replied, looking suspiciously at the two of them. He nearly ripped the paper from Elicec’s hand as Cecile’s brother offered it. As the man read it the look his face went from suspicious to incredulous.
“So I take it we have a deal then?” Cecile asked, smiling.
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“That’s really his seal, ain’t it? Damn. Guess it’s true the Reltleons really are leaving. Well, here, take it, all yours,” he replied. An orb appeared in his hand, and he immediately tossed it to Cecile. Wasting no time, Cecile quickly added it into his paladin class and checked the newly updated class features.
“Good news, we’ve got what we need!” Cecile exclaimed proudly as he unlocked Rancher and Transporting. Yeah, it drained a lot of his levels, but they needed it, so he tried to ignore that potential problem. His brother just nodded in return, but Cecile caught his smile before he managed to hide it. It was time to head back to Smithtown with their mission a success.
Worlds within worlds within worlds, that’s the real reality of the multiverse that is rarely discussed. What hidden wonders exist below the scale that the Spiral considers as viable for a universal integration? How many sapient species exist at sizes below our notice?
Explorations of Scale by Professor Reginald Blerkstik
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