Penicillium - Chapter Thirty-Nine
In order to unlock the ability to have a second class, at least according to what Phillip had told me, I needed my collective levels to be at five hundred.
Feronie's Crusader Class Skills - Level Two Hundred Sixty
General Skills - Level Two Hundred Twenty-one
That really wasn't far from where I was. Nineteen levels, to be precise. I could grind those levels with relative ease, especially if I was smart about it. And being smart about it mostly just meant focusing on those skills which were the easiest to level.
Feronie's Crusader Class Skills - Level Two Hundred Sixty
- Aura of Growth {Rare} - Level Seventy-Four
> [Shaped Aura]
> [Careful Casting]
> [Unrestricted Growth]
- Blight {Epic} - Level Sixty-Two > [Persistent Death]
> [Rigour Mortis]
> [Infection]
- Ritual of Sporemageddon {Legendary} - Level Twenty
> [Apocalypse Walker]
- Druid Sight {Uncommon} - Level Fifty
> [Druid's Sense]
> [Druid's Ear]
- Mushroom Magic {Rare} - Level Fifty-Four
> [Super Shroom Zoom]
> [Mushroom Remaker]
General Skills - Level Two Hundred Twenty-One
- Running {Common} - Level Fifty-Four
> [Surefooted]
> [Sprint]
- Knitting {Common} - Level Sixty-Four
> [Patterner]
> [Clicky Clacker]
> [Resizer]
- Basic Poison Resistance {Common} - Level Thirty-Three
> [Mana Bleed]
- Social Manipulation {Uncommon} - Level Twenty-Nine
> [Too Cute to Kill]
-Poison Handling Expertise {Rare} - Level Forty-One
> [Iron Lunged]
> [Toxicant Sense]
Now, which of my skills were the easiest to push forwards?
I wondered about that while tending my farm, which I supposed was a way of grinding skills as well. Some skills were growing increasingly difficult to level, if they weren't outright impossible to push forwards. [Ritual of Sporemageddon] was stuck where it was unless I could get to another dungeon and reach its core, which... wasn't going to happen for a while.
The higher level skills were also really hard to level at this point. The more they grew, the more effort it took to push them onwards. That meant that [Knitting], [Aura of Growth], and [Blight], were all probably poor choices for immediate returns. They would all require great effort to level, and I wanted to see results sooner rather than later.
My weakest skills were [Social Manipulation], [Basic Poison Resistance], and [Poison Handling Expertise]. All General skills. My class skills were at level fifty or above, which was when I started to notice a slow-down in the time it took to improve the skill.
So, [Social Manipulation] and my two poison-based skills were going to be the quickest way to grow. Not that I'd stop myself from keeping my farm going. I had mushrooms to tend to, and most of my social skill practice came from their sale and distribution anyway.
Now I just had to spend more time working with and on poisons.
That was doable!
Fortunately, the day after my meeting at Ratesco's Union, I had a bit of time for myself to check up on the combined mushroom's I'd been working on. These were the mushrooms I'd grabbed in the Ditz dungeon. Some were tricky to grow from the start.
Of the others I'd gathered, the [Lumbershroom] - Common, the [Blue Gilled Sleeper] - Uncommon, and the [Magebane] - Uncommon, were all pains in the rear to grow.
The [Magebane] that I'd tried to grow had failed several times until I discovered that it would only grow with a constant infusion of magic. It was exceptionally frustrating, but after three days of constant attention, the mushroom started to grow on its own without me having to baby it.
I wasn't quite ready to start combining it with others, but the time would come, especially when I had more viable samples to work with.
The [Lumbershroom] wasn't as bad, but it was very slow to grow, and seemed to require an out-sized amount of water and space to grow its mycelium. I expected that I'd be able to grow a few dozen mushrooms on a single rack, but the reality was that I needed to move the mycelium into a large kitchen-sized empty tin of beans for it to have more space, and that was just the one.
Tricky, and annoying to deal with, but not that bad. It was easier than some of the more volatile mushrooms I had to deal with on a daily basis.
The [Blue Gilled Sleeper] was a pain for unique reasons. Its description said that it was frequently found next to a particular kind of thorned bush. I didn't have thorned bushes in my little farm, and no matter what I did, the mycelium didn't want to grow a mushroom for me. It spread and stayed alive, but with no produce.
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That left me with three kinds of mushrooms that I could grow with minimal difficulty.
[Blue Cleangill] - Uncommon
An aquatic mushroom whose fruiting body collects detritus from the water it grows in and feeds on it. The mushroom isn't naturally toxic, but it may become so as it collects contaminants from the water it is grown in.
These required a large sealed space to grow in, mostly because they needed water on which to grow instead of just dirt and detritus like most of my other mushrooms. The sealed rack I grew them in and filled with dirty water did increase the humidity in my farm a little, but that was probably good for the other mushrooms in the room, so I didn't protest too much.
[Sludge Moss] - Uncommon
An uncommon growth found in environments with toxic materials that remain stagnant for long periods. The moss only grows in mana-rich environments, and its main body is fed by the toxins it extracts. Commonly used as a means of collecting several alchemical reagents.
This one was unfortunately easy to grow too, though I chose not to grow it in my farm and instead used one of the nearby abandoned warehouses. It was a space I'd crossed a dozen times and which everyone knew had 'bad air.' That bad air was mostly caused by the hundreds of tin bins filled with what looked like some sort of industrial by-product from paint production.
I didn't step foot in there without my mask on, and even then, the strong chemical scent left me light headed. But the moss adored it.
[Tubershroom] - Rare
A mushroom that is both nutritious and healthy when eaten raw. The Tubershroom has a weak but long-lasting healing effect that assists in the repair of tissues and the growth of those eating it regularly.
Now these? These were perfect. They grew nicely, without any prompting, didn't make a fuss, didn't seem to care about humidity, or light levels, and were quick to grow, smelled nice, and were a joy to work with.
I wasn't going to play favourites with mushrooms of all things... but if I did, these would be mine, at least from the crop I got from the Ditz dungeon.
The first crop of combined mushrooms took a while to come in. For the [Blue Cleangill] they were... interesting.
The only mushrooms which I could hybridise with this mushroom were those that grew in very wet conditions. That excluded most of my mushrooms right at the start... but not all.
Notably, my [Blackbottle] mushrooms which I used to carry water around loved the wet as well, and combined well with the [Blue Cleangill].
[Blue Spongebottle] - Uncommon
An uncommon magical mushroom which will swell up when placed in a liquid medium. It will absorb toxicants, and when squeezed, will only release the cleaner water it contains.
This one was kind of cute. It was nice and round and plump, and fun to squish, like a soft stress ball. I didn't dare test its cleaning ability with water that was too contaminated, but it did seem to work on the brackish, yellow-tinted colour we had at home, turning it nice and clear after a few squeezes. The mushroom didn't last forever, and eventually fell apart releasing waterlogged spores, but for the week or so it lasted it was useful.
It was something to add to my arsenal of mushroom-y tools.
The next was far more interesting. Combining a mushroom with a hybrid was always hit or miss, but I had a few [Blackbottle Night Watcher] samples that were about to get too old for me to want to keep, and so I figured... why not?
The result was well worth it.
[The Alchemist's Sponge] - Rare
A magical mushroom which, when absorbing beneficial potions which are made with natural ingredients, will improve their potency. Increases toxicity of ingredients.
That could be so useful. I needed to know what went into a potion before using it, but... it basically gave me a huge reason to invest into a whole field of work. Alchemy in this world wasn't too far off from herbology and from mycology. There were plenty of reasons for me to take some time to learn about the trade.
I had to get myself some manuals and maybe some of the more basic equipment. It might be a trade I could pick up in the future, and judging by what I could make already... I might be very popular with the sorts of people who needed untraceable healing and interesting poisons.
***