Energy Eater

163 – Subclass

I blinked at the notification a couple of times and quickly asked the System to show me my options.[User Cassandra currently only has two options for a subclass.]

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Traveler - Fledgling

Body + Mind

Energy Memory +

There are many ways to go through life. Some decide to take root in one place. Others, like you, decide to go out into the world and explore as many places as they can. A class that benefits you as long as you are moving from one place to the next.

The longer you stay in one place, the less effective this class will be.

Available Skills:

Marathon Not A Race - Fledgling - Passive

Your body is well suited for long exertions, for long physical exertion. After the initial burst of movement that will let you grow tired, continuous motion will be less impactful on your stamina.

I Know A Spot - Fledgling - Passive

Reserved Cost: 1 Energy

By traveling to different places, you are able to get to know different areas of the world and gain benefits from it. As long as you travel to a new region of the world without the intention of returning to your previous location, you will get benefits depending on the region in question.

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I stared at those two skills for a moment, not really sure if I liked them. Sure, I was traveling a lot right now, but I didn't really want to have my entire subclass revolving around that. Especially since I very much intended to one day, find a nice place and start to grow some roots there.

Maybe I would be lucky and wouldn't have to worry about Eaters anymore. Or maybe it was just a place that was safe enough from those creatures. But one way or another, traveling forever was never my intention. The class also sounded as if it would only give me any sort of power if I was on the move. If, for any reason, I had to stay for a long period in one place, I would end up having just those skills that were not doing anything.

Turning to the next one, I froze. Not because it was particularly powerful, which it could be, but because it was a subclass that never crossed my mind. Even if it was extremely obvious.

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Cook - Fledgling

Ever since civilization first discovered fire, people have been cooking their meals. And ever since people gained access to knives, even that stopped becoming a necessity. Every culture across the world places special importance on food. It's not just nutrition and not just fuel for someone to continue living. But it's also something that can heal the soul, form bonds, and create a community.

You are able to extract more out of the meals you prepare, and all the dishes made by you have their own added secret spice.

Available Skills:

Energy Extraction - Fledgling - Active

Energy Cost: 1 Energy

By optimizing the way you handle ingredients, you can make sure that every dish has its Energy optimized. Allowing people to recover and gain more Energy with every bite you create. When consuming a dish created by you.

Food For The System - Fledgling - Active

Energy Cost: 1 Energy

Ingredients have special properties. It is a well-known fact that every single dish can benefit the body in a specific way. You are able to extract those effects so that they are able to work together with the System.

Gives you the ability to create dishes that will bestow temporary buffs to those who consume them.

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Quick question. 'Is it really going to let me do what I think it's going to let me do? Make sure that the food I make gives us more Energy, meaning helps people level up faster? And two, so I'm going to be able to give temporary buffs, like {As I Flow So Does The Current} does to me?'

[The answer to both questions is yes. With the power of {Energy Extraction}, user will be able to create dishes that give more Energy than otherwise they would. With {Food For the System} User will be able to create dishes that give minor special effects, temporary special effects, to consumers. Those effects can vary, but System can already give a few examples.]

[1 - Temporary increases in one or more attributes.o another.'

[System will keep that in mind and will try its best to create such a skill or upgrade skills if possible.]

'Oh yeah, I know that might be an interesting upgrade for {Memory Bank}. Don't know how long that's going to take, but keep it in mind. Again, I don't want to quest for it, just a preference.'

[Acknowledged,] the System replied again as I noticed that the food was starting to run out. I gave the pot to the Rodenti and told them I was going to make more for me and my friends since we didn't have enough just yet. Which wasn't entirely true, as I was positive Riley and Michael had finished eating. Astrid and I, on the other hand, were bottomless beasts that could probably eat three times more and still feel like we were not entirely full.

Using the same ingredients, I focused on my two new skills and the subclass. Which, unlike what happened with the main class, I could work right away. In just a few minutes, I already had another pot of soup ready to be served. And I hadn't done anything different with it. There were the same ingredients with the same way of cooking and the same spices, but the smell was considerably better. I took a spoonful to try it and was surprised by two notifications.

The first stated that if I ate five more spoonfuls, I would be able to recover one point of Energy in 10 minutes. According to the System, that was roughly the same thing that would happen with the original stew, but at least now there was an actual part of the System helping with the metrics. The second notification said that by eating it, I gained a buff. For the next 20 seconds, my stamina would recover 5% faster.

I took another spoonful, and the time changed to 40 seconds. Meaning that while the effects would be the same, the more I ate, the longer the buff lasted.

Satisfied with the results, I walked back to my companions and gave them a taste of this new stew. Riley and Michael didn't want to eat anything, but I insisted until I convinced the two. The moment they took a bite and saw the notifications, they all went wide-eyed and stared back at me. I couldn't hold back my smirk anymore.

"I got my subclass, everyone," I said with a big smile.

Riley reached out to get more stew, but Astrid slapped their hand away since they had refused the extra serving earlier.

"Did you really get a Chef subclass?" Michael asked.

"Not chef. It's just called Cook," I replied while eating my meal.

"Chef might be something more advanced then," the archer looked to the ground.

He was still a bit awkward when talking to me. It was pretty obvious he still wanted to say something, but decided not to do so.

"So, buffs and you can give us the actual amount of Energy we will get?" Riley asked.

I finished chewing before replying, "Not just give the number, but increase it as well. Food I make has more Energy than it would regularly have. Or at least that's what supposed to happen. I think in this case there wasn't much difference. Maybe because of the ingredients. Or the difference is just very small."

"Good. Good. Very good," Rex said as he was eating some more.

"You mean the skills or the taste?" I turned to the Rodenti.

"Both!" he said with a smile.

Now that I also had a subclass, I was feeling much better. Being the first human to get a System, it felt unfair that I wasn't the first one to get a subclass. Now, the universe had realigned itself.

Early the next day, we arrived at the home of the Rodenti that were being trapped by the witch. And unlike the other places where we found them, this village was out in the open. They were using ruins of a small city as their home. And there were almost 100 Rodenti there. A good number of them seemed to be powerful enough to fight. It seemed that, as long as we were able to convince them to help, this could be where Rex found his army.