Oathbound Healer

Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: Book One

———————

Selkie Myth

Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Oathbound Healer

Adventures in the Argo

Ranger’s Dawn

Beyond the Wall

Journey to the Center of Pallos

Immortal Moments

Return to Remus

This is a work of fiction, and the views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author. Likewise, certain characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Oathbound Healer (Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, Book 1)

Copyright © 2020 Selkie Myth

All rights reserved.

This story is dedicated to my wonderful wife, Lauren, without whom this wouldn't be possible. Her endless love and support keeps me going.

This story is also dedicated to my beautiful daughter Flora, whose smiles light up my every day.

I would also like to acknowledge my beta readers, who put up with my endless typos, fix my mistakes, and help guide the story, so it can be the best story possible.

I'd like to thank all the other supportive authors and writing communities, and all the kind words they have.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Royal Road. My story and success wouldn't be possible without their website.

Thank you, to each and every one of you.

Chapter 1

REBIRTH

A raw, primal scream was being wrenched from my throat, my mind and body wracked by pain. The pain of loss, the pain of death, the pain of ending.

A crisp snap broke through my screaming, the pair of fingers that did the deed appearing in my vision. An old pair of fingers started the snap; a young pair of fingers ended the snap. I felt a strange force invade my mind, grab something, twist, and rip. I cried out in pain, a sense of loss washing over me. My mouth closed, every breath sending fresh flames of torment radiating from my lungs.

A tall, thin man was in front of me, speaking. "I do really hate the screaming, but I suppose that’s what happens when you mortals die."

Wait what!? Die!? I was in class just a second ago! What did he mean die!? I was too young to die! I could feel the panic quickly mounting again, my breath becoming shorter and faster as I started to hyperventilate.

"Who are you? Where is this? What do you mean die!?"

As I shot my questions off rapid-fire, I looked around.

I was disoriented. Dazed. Pain and anguish were clawing at my heart, my mind, my very soul, but slowly, oh so slowly, it was starting to fade.

Until I noticed where I was. And where I wasn’t.

Then it all came rushing back, and while I’d been silenced nothing stopped me from hyperventilating there’snoairhereohmygod!

A pair of fingers snapped again, and the man spoke once more, derision dripping from the single word he uttered.

"Honestly."

My mind cleared.

I wasn’t sure where I was anymore – I seemed to be floating in space, surrounded by twinkling stars and galaxies, comets and planets. It wasn’t home, it wasn’t school, it wasn’t even earth. There was nobody present except the tall thin man, floating impossibly in front of me, looking both ancient and young, happy and sad, male and female, tall and short, fat and skinny, red and blue – wait what?

I pinched myself, putting all my might into it. Only thing to do really. This dream was way too trippy for me.

I jumped as an electric shock went through me. I was still here, wherever here was. That didn’t bode well.

I might be in a minor spot of serious trouble.

A deep, long-suffering sigh escaped him? Her?

"You died. I took the memory of you dying to calm you down. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have worked nearly as well as it should’ve.", and I heard, barely under her breath "Mortals."

I felt an enforced calmness come over me, my panic not going away, just… not mattering anymore. Given where I was, strange floating among the stars with what can only be described as a super powerful shape-shifter, I could believe I had died. This wasn’t Kansas anymore.

"Now then, we can have a discussion. You have died. Your soul has failed to properly re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, and I found you just floating in the void."

Their face twisted in an unhappy grimace, and I felt an instinctive fear run through my…

Did I even have a body anymore? Was I just a soul now?

I didn't know what to make of being told I’d died, that my life was over. I did know that I hadn’t been old, or even middle-aged when I died. Had I even made it to adulthood!? I tried to make a disgruntled noise – the enforced calm was preventing any sort of outrage, only to discover that I couldn’t make a sound.

That bastard.

We couldn’t have a ‘discussion’ if I couldn’t say a single word! I guess he just wanted to monologue, and my input could take a jolly hike.

"I’m Papilion, the God of Change," she grandly announced, to an audience of one – and that constant shifting of male to female, young to old, pleased to outraged made a bit more sense, although it was giving me a pounding headache to follow. "And you’re being reincarnated. Normally, as souls are reincarnated through the cycle of life and death, all of their memories are erased. They’re given a clean slate to start over. I don’t know what to make of you, a lone soul lost to Samsara, so you have the option of keeping some of your memories. Regrettably, a newborn’s mind is simply too small for all of the things you know, and you do know quite a few dangerous things. What is your choice? Would you like to start as a blank slate, a new life? Or keep some of your knowledge, some of who you are, knowing that you’ll never be able to go back, be forever incomplete, missing a part of yourself?"

I wasn’t ready to make a decision of this scale. Hell, 10 minutes ago by my reckoning, I was debating what to eat for lunch, deciding if I wanted to buy that dress or not, and figuring out how to get all my homework done!

Poof! Like a magician’s disappearing act, it was all gone! A mote of dust in the breeze, smoke wrapped in the wind, the last ember soaked in water.

My entire life was over. Everything I’d worked for and accomplished gone in a heartbeat.

The crushing weight of that threatened to overwhelm me, but then the absurdity hit.

I was dead. It wasn’t like I could make any worse choices now, could I?

What was the worst that could happen now?

On one hand, I could keep my memories. Sounded painful, more emotional than physical. I would lose everyone I had ever known – my parents, my best friend, my brother, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends – everyone. I would know it. I would be aware. It was like a plague went through and I had to attend a hundred funerals at once, but the only funeral anyone would be attending was mine. The option to just… forget… was tempting, especially if it was as thorough as removing the memory of me dying was.

On the other hand, it sounded like this was a rare chance. Not everyone got to keep their memories – even if it was only a fraction of them – and start over again, tabula rasa. It was tempting, just for the aspect of doing something nobody – wait, maybe this had happened before – had done.

"Can… can I ask some questions….?" I asked, getting a single arched eyebrow back as a response. That might be a "go ahead", but it might also be a "you dare question me mortal", and I wasn’t going to play games with my life. Err… afterlife? Soul? Reincarnation?

I decided not to ask any questions, and mull it over myself. There wasn’t much more to add.

In the end, I felt that the choice was forced. As some famous philosopher said "You die twice. Once when you die, and once when someone speaks your name for the last time." I might have died and lost my first body, but my soul and memories were intact. That was alive enough for me, and I fully intended to keep it that was. I was too young to die.

"I would like to keep my memories." I said with far more confidence than I felt. The god in front of me smiled as he started to morph into a strange bird – it looked like a crow, but it had too many feet. Somehow, his voice was all the same coming out of a beak.

"Right then. Chemistry, gone. Physics, gone. Far too dangerous to know that where you’re going. Scientific method – you can do too much damage with that. Broad strokes of history – fine, but the details are completely superfluous, and we need to make room. Mathematics – keep the basics, but calculus will do nothing for you where you’re headed. Arts, literature – useless, but removing it will change you too much. There’s not much point in letting you keep your memories if you’re a completely different person. Interpersonal relationships – they can stay, same reason. English – I suppose you need a starting baseline. French? Spanish? Entirely useless. Gone. Hmm… a few more things to clean up… and we’re done! Prepare to be reincarnated as a Golden Crow."

I felt the strange force from before entering my mind, magnitudes more powerful and painful than before, rooting around in my head. Each time the crow squawked, I felt something rip out from my mind, and I tried to hold back tears of pain. By the time math was gone – I never liked it, but was indescribably sad at it leaving – I was curled up on the floor weeping silently. Not that there was a floor, just more floating in space. But when he said ‘Prepare to be reincarnated as a Golden Crow" I shot up, panic racing through me, somehow about to speak again.

"NO! I WANT TO BE HUMAN! MAKE ME HUMAN! HUMA-"

A pair of fingers snapped.

I was floating in warm, wet darkness. I had been floating here for quite some time, and I was doing lots of thinking. My first instinct was that it was all a bad dream, but I had fallen asleep and woken up too often for that to be the case. So, it seemed like I had truly died, and was being reincarnated.

The only thing I was unsure about was if I was going to be human, a ‘Golden Crow’, whatever that was, or something else entirely. This whole reincarnation thing really needed a user manual or something. I didn’t seem to have a shell, but there was no telling really.

At least, I was pretty sure something called a crow would be hatched from an egg. Who knew what I actually knew and what got ripped out by that cruel, capricious god. Who knew what was real, and what I just made up on my own as I floated here in the dark, trying desperately to plug the holes in my memories, holes where I knew things should be but were not.

I wanted to go home. I wanted to see mom again. I wanted dad to hug me, to tell me everything was going to be ok. Maybe I could look them up on the internet when I was old enough, tell them that I was ok. Would they even believe me? Would they think it’s just some cruel hoax?

I could probably tell them enough about me, enough about them, growing up. How the sun hit the windows, how it would go through the crude ‘stained glass’ plastic I made in 4th grade. That Becky was my best friend until 2nd grade, when she moved. How our dog Aoife used to eat anything and everything – proven by the Great Banana Peel Experiment – and was taken too soon. What was an ‘experiment’ anyways?

The fact that some knowledge was considered "too dangerous" for where I was going implied that I wasn’t heading back to the time I came from. I thinly tried to hold on hope that Papilion had meant "too dangerous to be born knowing so much", but I knew I was just deluding myself. I grieved. I lamented. I cursed fate, cursed the gods. It changed nothing. They were most likely all lost to me.

Waking period by waking period, the details of my past life got dulled, along with the pain of losing everyone I knew. Random things stayed – like why did I still know my bus schedule? How did that stay, why didn’t it get stripped out? Others faded. I could only name half of the people in my biology class, I had no idea who my teachers were last year, and the details of the latest book I had been reading were gone.

God, I wanted to read again. To pick up a book, sit in a cozy chair by the fire, and just lose myself in the pages. Rarely was I so happy as when I was reading. Although, "God" might be a bit of a strange epithet, after now knowing there were gods, and it didn’t seem like there was just one. Otherwise he (she? Them? What pronoun did a shape-shifting god (goddess??) use anyways? – I decided to use he, since that was the first and the last form shown to save my sanity until said god of change told me otherwise.) probably wouldn’t have referred to himself as "the god of change", and probably just "god". God. This was tricky.

I had entirely too much time to think, and nothing else to do. I tried flailing about now and then, just for a change of pace, but I rapidly hit soft walls all around me that absorbed what I did and gave. I tried to brace myself and push out, but had no luck. I would rapidly tire out and fall asleep after each attempt.

I kept at it though, because there was nothing else to do. Except think. And there was nobody to bounce my thoughts off of, nobody to interact with, and just far too much time on my hands (claws? Please not claws.) God. Gods.

I occasionally heard noises, as if coming off from a great distance underwater, but couldn’t make anything out. I would redouble my escape efforts whenever I heard that – maybe someone could let me out? But it never made a difference. The noises were usually soothing, which was nice, but being unable to really make anything out, it wasn’t that much of a change. At least it broke up the monotony. Inevitably after each attempt, I would get exhausted and fall asleep.

When would this end?

The state of affairs couldn’t last, and one day I felt the fleshy walls of my prison contract around me, squeezing me. I felt a sharp spike of fear go through me, and I flailed more in panic. There wasn’t anything else I could do. This did seem to strongly imply that I didn’t need to escape with a beak, which gave me a brief sense of relief – only for panic to set in once again as the walls contracted around me, squeezing all over. Again, and again, pain and pause, the relief between each movement constantly shortened. I was battered, I felt bruised all over, but finally, with one last massive squeeze, I emerged into the world, and a massive deluge of information.

[*ding!* Welcome to Pallos!]

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 0]

[Time remaining on System locks: 68,820:43:16]

[*ding!* Due to the great efforts of [Hero] Herculix, you get a +1 bonus to all stats! You also get a passive 2% increase to all exp gain!]

Strange words floating in front of me, and so many more words, dozens, hundreds! I needed to investigate. But more than that –

Giants. Giants all around me. Some yelling, some screaming, two covered in blood. The noise grated, and went right between my ears, nails on chalkboard. I was picked up, incomprehensible language babbled all around me, and looking down, I saw a female giant bleeding profusely. Another giantess elbowed her way in, put her hand on the first giant, yelled something, and I watched the flesh of the first giant knit itself back together!

Holy shitballs there was magic here!

I looked up for the first time, and realized that we were in a field under the open sky. I was passed down to the giantess who was healed, my head being moved around as I saw more of the night sky, and I saw them.

Two crimson cat’s eyes with slitted pupils glared down from the sky to me, watching me, seeing every movement I made. I could feel the weight of its ominous gaze pressing on me, suffocating. The strange floating words, being manhandled by giants, the screaming, getting battered and bruised, the blood, the magic - it was too much. I screamed and cried and flailed about, and didn’t stop until my voice gave out and I passed out from exhaustion.

Chapter 2

SYSTEM DAY I

Finally! Only 66 hours, 33 minutes, and 15 seconds left to go until the lock was gone! 3,993 minutes!

We all shared one giant bed, which would have taken some getting used to if I hadn’t started there as a baby, and just never left. It was somewhat terrifying at first, not wanting mom or dad to roll over in the night and squash me like a bug, but somehow, I survived. I took a deep breath in, smelling the wonderful sea breeze. I leapt out of bed, disturbing mom, as I raced to get ready. Dad was working at night, so he wasn’t around to be disturbed. I ran out the door, only for 24-year-old mom to groggily yell at me.

"Elaine! Get out of those filthy clothes, and into something nice! It’s System Day!"

I sheepishly slinked back into the bedroom, and looked down at my beige-colored bamboo tunic. A grease stain, a few dirt stains, and was that yesterday’s lunch…?

Embarrassing. The emotion washed through me, hot and raw. I felt it only the way a kid could, and I had one of those ever-rarer flashes of insight, of remembrance.

I’d been reborn, as a baby. I’d grown up a bit, but I had the body of a kid. The physical mind of a kid. I’d been treated like a kid.

The conclusion was inevitable. I thought like a kid. A kid, with a boatload of extra memories rattling around, most of which I couldn’t use or process in any meaningful way. The more "adult flashes" of remembrance and self-centering were getting rarer and rarer as I aged.

I’d somewhat accepted it. New life! New me!

I changed to a fresh tunic. Bamboo was a nice material to wear. It was light and cool, and as the weather was getting really warm in the early summer, it was the perfect material to wear. I wasn’t a fan of the color of undyed bamboo – I much preferred wool white – but there was no beating how it felt or what it did for the heat.

I sighed as I put away the dirty tunic. I would have to wash it later, and that was a chore and a half, needing to go down to the river that cut the town in half. Mom- I found out her name was Julia, just Julia – would come down with me and do the rest of the laundry, but I was already being made to look after myself. Childhood being a carefree time with no responsibilities, bah humph. Who said that!? I want a refund!

Still, System Day! I was bouncing off the walls with happiness. Turns out, everyone had a system, not just me! System Day was when kids who were just about to unlock their class went to the temple, and we would get told all about the System, how it worked, and had a chance to ask for advice and help. Mom and dad – turns out his name was Marcus Elainus Cato, for some reason he had a long and fancy name – would also be telling me things and giving their own advice and opinion on the matter, but the temple asked for, and got, first dibs on telling kids what was going on.

System Day happened every week, and only once in your life. Only kids that were about to unlock their system could attend. It was a milestone in everyone’s life, marking the end of childhood (HA! Like I wasn’t already pressed into chore service), and the start of "real" life, of getting classes and levels generally starting an apprenticeship, or working. They started the hard labor young here!

With that being said, I had already managed to gain a few stats on my own. Some were clearly obtained from my own effort – I got some points in Speed for playing and running around with Lyra – and others just seemed to happen while growing up, like a point in Strength and Vitality. Each time I leveled up, I could feel it, a power bubbling up inside and washing over me. With how low my stats were, I distinctly noticed each and every stat point. I pulled them up to see how I’d done since I got started here.

[Free Stats: 0]

[Strength: 4]

[Dexterity: 6]

[Vitality: 3]

[Speed: 4]

[Mana: 2]

[Mana Regeneration: 2]

[Magic Power: 2]

[Magic Control: 2]

After having gotten my fresh clean clothes on, I bounced over to the kitchen. It was like a furnace here – between the heat and the clay oven, it was deeply unpleasant to be here. We never quite let the fire in the oven die, but generally left it as embers. It was more work to restart the fire from scratch, than it was to work in a too-hot kitchen. I darted in, quickly scanning around to see what we had to eat. Bread, some sort of dried meat, various vegetables, a large dried fish, some fruits. Wait – was that a mango!? Eyes wide, I reached out to grab it, and sprinted back out of the kitchen – I didn’t want to stay in there any longer than needed, it was already boiling. I went over to the table with its too-high not-chairs, and climbed up onto the cozy patient recliner, placing the mango in front of me. We had a knife on the table, and while I knew it was dangerous to use the knife – I had been told in no uncertain terms not to use it without mom or dad around – I knew I was good enough, and nothing was keeping me from the juicy deliciousness contained within.

I carefully lined up the knife facing away from me, as I was taught, and tried to slice in. The blade just skidded over the skin of the mango, ending up wildly flailing away from me. I barely kept my grip on the knife, although the mango slipped. Even with system-enhanced strength I wasn’t getting through it that easily. I narrowed my eyes at the mango, wondering if its vitality had been enhanced by the system as well. There was no other reason possible I would fail.

"Elaine! What have I said about knives?" Mom stomped over from the bedroom door, murder in her eyes, wooden spoon in hand. That thing terrified me.

I was in so much trouble.

I bowed my head in shame, reciting "I’m never to use a knife without you or dad present."

"Exactly. So why were you using a knife without me?" mom growled at me, tapping the end of the spoon into her other hand. Pat. Pat. Pat.

"I could use it just fine! I’m not a kid anymore, it’s System Day!" I complained.

"Clearly not. You almost cut yourself!" This wasn’t helping. Mom was getting madder.

"I’m sorry." I apologized in that way only kids can, saying the words and not meaning a single one of them.

Mom walked over to the table, her glare softening, spoon relaxing, vanishing who knew where. Phewf, dodged. She took the knife and the mango, sat down and started carving it up with a fluid grace.

"Honestly Elaine, you’re going to be the death of me." She smoothly handed me a chopped-off slice of mango, already scored and ready to eat. "You should just calm down and take things slowly. Play with some of the kids besides Lyra, the two of you’re like bottled lightning and twice as much trouble."

Bah. Playing with others? No thank you. Lyra was enough. She was my partner-in-crime, practically my twin. We were even born on the same day! We were neighbors, and grew up together, sharing adventures and the inevitable punishment when we got caught. When it was time to go out and play, Lyra and I would get into mischief of all types. When we went to the park, I would rather run and jump and cartwheel and climb around and play in the mud, and was less interested in playing with kids. It was Lyra or bust, and I would like to think she felt similarly.

Oh, I had given playing with others a try now and then, but it just didn’t click. I couldn’t understand them, I didn’t get where they were coming from, and it just made me uncomfortable and stressed. Exactly the opposite of what playing was supposed to do. I’m guessing this was an effect of reincarnating with my memories intact. I was so lucky that for whatever reason I resonated with Lyra.

"Yes mom." I said, much more obediently this time. No sense in making life harder for myself, and I was getting that tasty mango. Mmm mango. More of it was rapidly vanishing down the endless pit that was my mango-stomach (like a dessert stomach, but for mango. I was pretty sure my dessert stomach had turned into my mango stomach), and it was good.

It was also, sadly, finished. Mom had eaten most of it in the end. It was completely unfair. It was my mango, just because she was five times my size didn’t entitle her to that much of my tasty tasty mango.

A slightly more reasonable voice whispered in my ear that I was still a kid, and as a result, couldn’t complain too much, especially when she had clearly gotten it for me as a special treat for System Day. I ignored that voice with aplomb.

"Ok sweetie, now that you’re done, can you please wash up and prepare dad’s dinner? He should be home soon."

Dad was a guard! He worked for the city, which is more to say he worked for the governor. He was currently working the nightshift on the western gates, which was on the side of town we lived on.

Speaking of town, we lived in Aquiliea. We were a coastal town, with the Nostrum sea to the north. The Athahurst River was a real monster, splitting the town diagonally in half. The nicer sections were on the more southern/western side, and the slightly poorer/smellier districts being on the north/eastern side. The ports were similarly split with the river – the western ports were for trade and cargo moving along the river or down the coast, and the eastern ports were used for fishing, clams and pearls, and the oh-so-valuable sea snails that were used to make dyes.

Speaking of dyes, I couldn’t wait for System Day to be over! I could start wearing dyed clothes! Some dyes were prohibitively expensive – Purple was worth more than its weight in gold, and deep red and blue were also far beyond the modest means of our family – but others might be more in reach, the greens and yellows, oranges and shades of teal. Other colors weren’t made locally, and were silly expensive as a result.

The dead fish guts, with the heat, the tanneries, the smiths, the dyeworks, and more, all in all made the part of town making the dyes and other work not a pleasant place to live, for all that it was prosperous.

I finished washing my face in the water bucket, and went back into the volcanic embrace of the kitchen. Gods it was hot in here. I looked around again, surveying the kitchen with an eye for "dad’s dinner". I grabbed a bowl, ripped off a chunk from the bread, got a carrot, a chunk of cheese, and a strip of the dried meat. Stuck them all into the bowl, and escaped the fiery hell once again.

"Thank you, Elaine," mom said, and I practically glowed from the praise. "Although, how did you get that cheese…?" she asked all too sweetly.

"Ripped it off with my hands! No knife!" I proudly declared.

"So…" she said, eyes narrowing, tone dangerous, tapping that dread spoon. "My cheese now has a big hole ripped in it from your dirty hands?"

There was NO WINNING!

Chapter 3

SYSTEM DAY II

Dad came home, had dinner, wished me luck on System Day, got out of his armor, and went directly to sleep. In that order. The last two items had occasionally been mixed up. Mom always made me rewash the sheets when it happened, and I’d quickly learned to intercept dad before he could sleep in his armor.

Washing sheets SUCKED.

Time was funny without clocks. Things weren’t done at a particular time, just "Around noon" "Before dark" "Right after sunrise". After so long of not needing to deal with being exactly on time to things, it was easy to slide right into the new way of handling time. It did make starting important things – like System Day – a bit tricky, but such was the way of life.

I couldn’t figure out why my System clock was measured in hours – the same hours as on Earth – but nobody seemed to use hours, nor did I even know the name for it here! Learning the new language had been hard. I didn’t want to ask about time and hours and such – I could always let the reincarnated genie out of the bottle, but there was no putting it back. It wasn’t like I was keeping it a massive "don’t tell at any cost" secret, but I figured there was a time and a place for everything.

"Elaine. Sit." Mom gestured to the chair, comb in hand. I happily scuttled up onto the recliner, where mom started to comb my hair. It was peaceful, relaxing, stroke after stroke getting my hair out and loose. A moment of peace. A moment of calm. A perfect mother-daughter moment.

"Excited?" Mom asked, getting a particularly difficult snarl out.

"Yeah!" This was IT! This was the big day! "I can’t wait to try all of the things in the temple out! I want to know everything!"

Mom smiled. "Don’t get your hopes up too high, it’s fairly disappointing really."

Learning about magic, disappointing? Yikes. I hope I didn’t have all the fun sucked out of me when I grew up. At long last. Growing up was taking me literally twice as long as the normal person, thankyouverymuch reincarnation.

Just as I’d started to taste the fun and joys of being an adult, ziiiiiip! Back to square one! If it hadn’t been for the trippy stars and gods nonsense, I would’ve sworn someone had it in for me!

But nooooooo. I’d been a clerical error! A typo!!

Hair finished up, I grabbed my sandals, and off we went! We left the house, looked both ways, and crossed over to the "grey zone" of the street. I frowned.

"Moooooom, can we not walk here? It’s System Day! I’m allowed to walk in the real street now!"

Mom gave me that half amused, half exasperated smile. "I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?"

I gave her my best angry-pout.

"Because I don’t have enough physical stats." I recited as annoyingly as I could.

"That’s right. And when has ‘not being allowed’ ever stopped you or Lyra from anything, hmm?"

Oops. Good point.

I pouted as I was dragged along. I wanted to be on the real street, instead of the tiny grey zone. It was full of other kids, crates, and generally things pushed to the side. It seemed to be a universal law that bike lanes were treated poorly. I hated having to crawl over and around things, when I could be in the nice "white zone" instead, strolling through without a care in the world.

Out of the clear blue sky, a massive series of thunderbolts came down near the south gate, making me jump about a foot out of my skin.

"What was that!?" I yelled, startled. Lightning bolts didn’t just come out of the clear blue sky. No way.

Not even in this world of MAGIC! Most of what I’d seen had been on the smaller end. Plates instantly cleaned. People working faster, hitting harder. I hadn’t seen any super-duper-cool magic like LIGHTNING BOLTS OUTTA NOWHERE!

But… maybe I had?

I wasn’t the only one who’d jumped. Multiple huge surprise lightning bolts tended to do that to people.

"Well, what do you think it was, Elaine?" Mom asked me with that annoying 'I'm trying to teach you something' tone of voice parents had.

I bit my lower lip and thought about it.

"A... Classer entering the city?" I asked.

Mom nodded.

"Very good. Why did he make some Lightning bolts?"

Oh! OH! I knew this one! Dad had told me!

"They ask mage Classers to discharge their mana before coming in!" I exclaimed, jumping one in my excitement. Dad was SUPER GUARD! He told me cool guard stuff like that!

And, and, someone could just flat-out summon Lightning bolts! That was MAGIC! YES!

A thought came to me.

"How can you tell how much mana someone has?"

"It’s usually safe to assume that mages have a lot of mana." Mom said, and I wanted to roll my eyes.

DUH mages had mana!! What else would they have? Even with the great "don’t tell kids stuff" conspiracy going on, that seemed suuuuuuuuuper obvious to me.

"The guards have a rough idea of how much mana mages of a certain level should have. However, it’s something of a trust system. Mages show that they can follow the rules, so they’re let in."

I guess?

We reached the end of the street, and turned left into the main street. You could see the town gate on one end, and the market at the center of town on the other. Well – you could see it if there weren’t food stands, vendors, two wagon-wide worth of lanes, and a massive crush of people in the way.

Magic was on display in hundreds of tiny ways. Shops had their flashing signs, food rotated on spits without anyone touching them, goods moved through the air by themselves, and a broken wagon was repaired by a passing man touching it.

Everyone had magic, usually small, and used it in their day to day life.

I’d seen the sight a THOUSAND times, and there were still a THOUSAND COOL THINGS TO SEE! Every day had something new and different!

"Mom Mom Mom look! They’re selling pitas! And a bard’s playing over on the corner! Can we go over and listen? Please? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Mom rolled her eyes at me "You’re as distractible as always Elaine. Where are we going right now?"

"The temple!"

"And why are we going there?"

RIGHT.

"SYSTEM DAY!!! Let’s go-go-go-go slowpoke"

She chuckled as I started pulling on her hand and arm, urging her forward. I knew she could run and go so much faster than this, why were we plodding along?

I suddenly stumbled and nearly fell over as a blast of wind hit me. Fortunately, mom was holding onto me, and kept me stable and up. My heart was pounding so loudly I could almost hear it. My palms felt like they were going to slip out of mom’s tight grasp.

Mom looked down at me with a hint of worry in her eyes.

"That was a courier. And that is why we’re still walking in the grey zone. You could barely stand the air blast of him running by – imagine if he hadn’t seen you in the crowd and ran into you at that speed? That would be bad."

I imagined a large, rolling rock and a small, delicate mango in the way. Splat. Yeah no.

My heart was getting back down to a more reasonable rate.

"I’m never leaving the grey zone. Nuh uh. No way." I swore.

I climbed up and over another crate while mom deftly weaved from the grey zone into the white zone and back again to avoid it. I could smell the marketplace, and now I could finally see it. It was a large, sprawling mess in the middle of town, with the Athahurst river pressed up against one side of it. Guards were patrolling around with their leather vests and metal batons, merchants were hawking their wares under covered stalls, shooting off impressive displays of magic to try and attract attention – pillars of flames, living sculptures of water, flashing light signs, and so much more. The usual army recruiter was shouting his pitch – "Join the legions today! Fight the Formorians! Service grants citizenship!" A large crowd of people moved throughout, going from stall to stall to do their daily shopping, find something nice, or just to chit-chat. The sky went dark, and everyone froze where they were, merchant to farmer, young to old, man and woman, looking to the sky. Street kids didn’t even take the chance of distraction to nick a purse or two – they were too busy looking up as well.

Just a crapton of pigeons. They were so shitty to have around. Literally, they pooped everywhere. There was a collective sigh, as the market resumed being as busy as a beehive.

The market was too narrow and too crowded for there to be grey zones, and it was somewhat dangerous for someone as small as I was for a reason. Fortunately, with the crowd, and everyone stopping and starting every three feet it was safe for me. It clearly wasn’t stopping some of the street kids I saw ducking and weaving about, looking for unguarded wares and purses. I eyed them suspiciously. Mom might not be paying too much attention, but I was. No sticky-fingered brat was getting mom’s pouch – and by extension, my lunch.

With supernatural agility mom worked her way through the crowd, and we reached the shores of the Athahurst. We ended up close to the south bridge, with a pair of surly guards stopping enterprising merchants from setting up on the bridge itself.

We started to cross the bridge when mom, twisting with unnatural finesse, punted a wind weasel that had been blowing towards us.

"Bloody pests," she muttered, putting me back down. "What is the guard doing that there’s so many of them running around?"

"You should complain to dad that he is not doing his job." I cheekily replied, only to get walloped over the head.

I rubbed my head, and waited until mom had turned before glaring at her.

Glaring over her shoulders at the bridge guards, muttering darkly under her breath, we continued marching over the bridge. This was exciting! System day! Some old men we wearing tunics of various hues of red and blue were fishing on the bridge.

"Hey mom! Can we go fishing here later!?" Trout and salmon and ok fine I didn’t actually know the names of any of the fish here. A fish was a fish. Yum Yum.

I got a sad smile back.

"No dear. Who’s allowed to fish here again?" My face fell at this.

"Citizens…" I muttered back, still glaring murder at the two fishermen. The JERKS were allowed to fish here and I wasn’t.

Mom, clearly seeing I was upset, tried to cheer me up. "Besides, the fishing here is pretty bad – there’s almost nothing in the river because of the grates."

"It’s not fair that we’re not citizens! Dad should be a citizen, the army recruiter said they become citizens and he is a guard! I want to be a citizen!" I whined.

"Even if dad was a citizen…" Mom started, trailing off.

She knew me too well.

We weren’t allowed to be citizens. Ever since the day I’d learned that simply being born a girl made me a second class citizen, a roaring bonfire of rage and anger had been lit inside of me. It fueled me, drove me. No matter how many times I got punched and kicked, I leaned on that anger and always, always got back up.

Mom was always good with the patients who came to visit her, and could probably tell I was still upset.

"Look Elaine, while you can’t be a citizen, you could always marry one! It’s practically the same thing."

The only thing that did was to stroke the fire inside of me, and make me mad again. Mom had told me that before, and it just didn’t help.

At all. I wasn’t going to marry no stinky boy just to get second-rate citizenship. Bah!

Calm, calm, I need to stay calm. I need to stay in control. I can’t just go flying off the handle, and the temple was practically in sight.

System Day. Mangos. Lyra. Magic. Happy thoughts.

As I was seeing red and taking some deep stabilizing breaths, we reached the end of the bridge and arrived in front of the temple. It was the largest building I had seen since I had been reborn, and looked like it had been a clone of a Greek temple, with large steps leading up to majestic marble pillars. I stopped and stared for a moment, taking it all in, before noticing a statue in front of the building. Flesh in marble, done by such a skilled [Sculptor] that he looked alive, a large lizard-like creature stood hunched forward on its hind legs, a jaw like a crocodile with a smile like one, claws made for rending and tearing, and a huge sail on its back.

We reverently bowed towards the statue of Etalix, the Storm. One of the guardian beasts. No idea what a guardian beast was or what they did, but I was taking no chances. Not with the gods being real, and seemingly taking an active interest in our day to day lives.

Until I had an answer, I wasn’t going to stop paying my respects to Etalix. Just in case.

Etalix, the Storm.

Etalix, the Spinosaurus.

There were freaking DINOSAURS here!

Chapter 4

SYSTEM DAY III

We entered the temple together, and I looked around in awe. I wasn’t particularly religious - somewhat ironic, considering I’d met an actual god - but the temple was impressive, no matter how many times I saw it.

There were marble pillars, and in the middle of the entryway, a large diamond-shaped symbol, with a gemstone on each corner and one in the middle. Painted frescos lined the wall: What was probably Etalix, wrapped in mist. Herculix fighting some sort of large dinosaur. White Dove and Black Crow, the grim reapers from above. Army legions victorious over large insects. The famous run of Fulguris. The Sentinel Gideon, burning with the dark flames he was famous for. And many, many more, each probably with historical significance and martial victory that someone would probably be all too happy to tell me about if I asked. I didn’t ask.

I wanted to read about it! No books, just nice scrolls, and even then nobody had any ideas of teaching me how to read. I’d have to do it myself one day.

"Good morning." A man with a pockmarked face, marking him as a survivor of any number of the poxes and plagues that went about regularly, greeted us. "Are you here for System Day?" He asked with exceeding politeness.

"Yes!" I responded as enthusiastically as I could, although not as loudly as possible. The temple was intimidating. At the same time, mom gave a much more reserved "Yes". I glared at her with all the ferocity I could muster. It was my day. No stealing it!

"Third door on the left." He gently told us.

With bold strides and butterflies bouncing in my belly, I entered the indicated room. There were three other kids in beige sitting on the floor in front of an older priestly-looking gentleman in a chair, and there were various implements scattered around the edge of the room. There was a bowl of water, a hammer, a rope, and dozens more little objects scattered all over. There was even a modest patch of dirt! At the back of the room, prominently displayed, was another one of those diamonds with 5 gems in it, but much smaller. I looked around puzzled as everyone’s attention came around to me.

"Hello there. I’m Sacerdus. What’s your name?"

I got a warm fuzzy feeling from the elderly priest standing at the front of the room. He was tall, in a long white robe with simple sandals on his feet. White hair, white beard, and it was clear he spent time in the sun, he practically radiated comfort, confidence, and relaxation. Heck, for all I knew, he literally was radiating all of those!

"I’m Elaine." I fidgeted, eyes on the floor.

"Well Elaine, why don’t you sit down with everyone else? We’ll get started soon."

I looked around, and saw Lyra! How did I miss her first-time round? Her somewhat tattered tunic made her stand out, the victim of one of her many fights. She clearly saw me as well, and jumped up to hug me!

"Lyra!" I exclaimed, completely forgetting where we were.

"Elaine!" Just as happily.

"Ahem." A cough came from Sacerdus. Mom was glaring murder at me. Oh gods I was going to get the spoon later.

Fortunately, I was spared further conversation as a boy wearing a green tunic and his father came in.

"Hello there. I’m Sacerdus. What’s your name?" Sacerdus said again, without any sign of impatience or annoyance.

The boy drew himself up to his full height, and with all the haughtiness he could muster responded with "Olympus Kerberos Titus." I rolled my eyes to myself as he strutted forward, and plonked himself down in front of all of us. Um, hello? The remaining four of us are sitting in a line, who are you to sit in front of us all? Should I say something? But Sacerdus isn’t saying anything, he’s just keeping his happy smile on.

As I was debating what to do, Sacerdus preempted me by talking.

"Well! I’m glad to see everyone’s here. Just checking – everyone has less than seven days left on their timer? Raise your hand if you do!" He said as he raised his hand in demonstration.

64 hours and change left. Yup, that was me! Strange that he didn’t say it in hours, although nobody here seemed to use them. I raised my hand with everyone else.

"Good! Let’s begin. First, I’d like to say thank you to Kerberos’s father, Citizen Prasinos. He, and Citizen Arotro and Citizen Fyto together grow about three in ten crops that we eat here in Aquiliea." He gestured to three men standing in the back in full purple robes.

The three citizens in the back nodded thanks at the acknowledgement.

Sacerdus turned around, and grabbed a scroll off of the altar.

"I’m going to start by something our history off of the something."

I was still learning words. Sue me, I was a kid, and hadn’t gotten exposed to everything yet. However, it was easy enough to figure new words out from context!

He unraveled the scroll, and started reading off of it. "It’s currently 4788 years post-creation. In the beginning, the five major gods created…" I completely missed everything else he said – at long last, I had the word for reading, and the word for scroll! It wasn’t a book, but I could now finally ask for reading lessons! Books would have to be involved, and then I could finally read again!

I hadn’t seen Lyra in ages (ok fine two days), and we spent some time putting our heads together, whispering frantically to get caught up.

"Did you get in trouble for the…?" I started. I didn’t need to finish the sentence; Lyra knew exactly what I was referring to. The latest Incident. The reason it had been two whole days since last seeing the other half of my soul.

"Nope!" She cheekily grinned.

"Lucky." I muttered back. "You NEVER get in trouble for ANYTHING."

Which was true. No matter how bad the situation, no matter what we got up to, it was one of the fundamental truths of the world that mom would punish me, and Lyra got away free.

"Any questions?" he asked. Shit. I had completely missed everything he said! This was System Day! I needed to focus! I did my best poker face, hoping that I hadn’t missed anything, and more importantly, mom hadn’t noticed me whispering with Lyra.

"Good. Moving on. We don’t know where the System comes from, but it’s what gives us classes and skills. It’s what lets us stay alive in this world. It’s the foundation of nearly everything we do, and we’d fall prey to the creatures outside of our borders without it. Even with it, we’re at risk. Everyone needs to do their part so humanity as a whole can survive, and maybe even beat the Formorians."

Formorians. The villain of every story, the scourge seemingly lurking around every corner. The big monster, threatening to overrun us at any time.

I’d never seen one. When I was with dad I occasionally saw a bunch of new soldier recruits marching out of the city, and once in a while an old soldier came back. There was a war, but it wasn’t near us.

"Nearly everything has a System. Anything bigger than a bug has a system, although it seems like only humans and intelligent monsters get classes. As you’ve all noticed," he chuckled "when you’re born, your System is locked. Humans all have the same timer, but it seems like monsters each get their own, different timer. Why this is, we don’t know, but we believe it’s to stop babies from killing themselves." Sacerdus went from smiling to serious. "If you get nothing else out of System Day, just know that improperly using the System and allocating your traits can and will kill you. Each time you level up a physical trait, you lose some of your mana regeneration. If you allow your mana regeneration to dip below 0, you’ll start to burn mana just to stay alive. You’ll quickly hit 0 mana, and then your body will eat itself from the inside out. It’s not pretty. It’s not fun. It’s Very Bad." He emphasized, talking to us like we were children.

Which we were. Fair enough.

Sacerdus repeated himself, along with dire warnings about allocating stats.

"Any questions?"

I looked over my stats.

[Free Stats: 0]

[Strength: 4]

[Dexterity: 6]

[Vitality: 3]

[Speed: 4]

[Mana: 2]

[Mana Regeneration:2]

[Magic Power: 2]

[Magic Control: 2]

I had nothing.

"Carrying on. There are two types of stats, broadly speaking. There are the stats you get and build yourself, the ‘natural’ stats. And the stats you get from classes and leveling, the ‘class’ stats. For the most part, you can’t control your natural stats, and they’ll only form a very minor portion of your stats. However, as a benefit, they don’t drain any mana. Otherwise very few of us would survive our System unlocking."

I spent a moment daydreaming and thinking over what was said before realizing Sacerdus was talking again. Shit. I couldn’t miss this, not when lacking information could kill me it seemed. Stupid kid brain.

"… to recap, each point of mana regeneration gives you about 240 mana per day of regeneration. Each point you allocate to Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, or Speed will use about 24 mana per day worth of that regeneration."

I mentally translated that to about 10 mana/hour gained per point and 1 mana/hour lost per physical stat.

"Let’s talk about the stat groupings."

"We have the four physical stats – Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Speed. We then have the four magic stats – Mana, Mana Regen, Magic Power, and Magic Control. Any questions?"

Heads shaking.

"Next, we have the support stats and the direct stats. The direct stats directly help in fights, and the support stats simply help out."

"The four direct stats are Strength, Dexterity, Magic Power, and Magic Control. As a result, the four support stats are Vitality, Speed, Mana, and Mana Regeneration. Any questions?" The distinction seemed fairly arbitrary to me, but whatever, I would roll with it.

"Good. Let’s talk about each individual stat now."

"Strength. Strength is how strong you are, how much you can lift, how powerfully you can swing a sword, how far you can draw a bow. It’s both how high you can lift a hammer, and how many times you can lift a hammer. It’s power, it’s stamina, it’s strength."

"Dexterity. Dexterity is how flexible you are, how gracefully you can move. Dexterity is the fine control over yourself, and over your movements. It’s how well you can etch pottery. It’s how accurate your arrow is. It’s how you balance as you walk. As it combines with Strength, it’s how accurately you hit the metal you’re forging, it’s how well-placed your blow against a Formorian is. Dexterity is grace. Dexterity is beauty."

"Vitality. Vitality is how well-put together you are. It’s thick skin. It’s health. It’s living a long life. It’s staving off disease. It’s how well you perceive the world around you. Vitality is recovering from injuries, recovering from a punch, easily bearing a child."

I frowned. It seemed more subtle than Strength or Dexterity. I guess that is why it was a support stat, and not a direct stat. Still, everything was useful. With great effort, I continued to pay attention.

"Lastly in the physical stats we have speed. Speed is how fast you run. Speed is how fast your blade is. Speed is how quick your reflexes are. Speed is reaction, speed is how quickly you can make food, speed is how fast you set up your stall." Sacerdus looked at the boy on the far side of the line, opposite to me. "Speed is how fast you run away with a purse." He looked guilty for some reason.

"Speed and Vitality need each other like Strength and Dexterity need each other, even though they oppose each other. You can get a ton of speed, but it’s useless without the perception granted by Vitality to keep up. In other words, if you had a ton of Speed but no Vitality, you literally wouldn’t be able to see yourself running."

"Now we’ll talk about the four magic stats. The magic stats are how all of your skills work."

"Mana. Mana is the fuel for your skills. Without enough mana, you can’t use the skill! Usually, you’ll be told how much a skill costs, and if you have enough mana, you can cast it! If you have lots and lots of mana, you can cast many many spells and skills at once! For every one point you put into mana, you get 10 points into your mana pool."

Seemed straightforward.

"Mana regeneration is both how much mana you recover, and how the rest of your skills are fueled. Each point of mana regeneration gives you 240 mana per day of regeneration, and those points of mana per day of regeneration are how you fuel your physical skills. You can focus on physical stats, and use skills less often, or you can have fewer physical stats and be able to cast spells more often. However, you’re still limited by your mana pool for how many skills you can cast at once! Physical stats let you keep working for the entire day, but each activity isn’t as impressive as a skill."

"If you have questions, ask your parents later." Sacerdus smiled at us. "I know this is a lot, but take some time to think about it, and ask later. This is supposed to be an introduction – after all, your parents know much better than you or I do what you should do!"

"Magic power," Sacerdus plowed on. "is how powerful skills can be, and how much mana a single skill can use. Many skills can use more mana the higher your magic power is. For example, the legion’s famous [Earthen Artillery] skill gets bigger the more mana you pour into it."

Got it. More magic power = bigger fireballs. Really all that mattered.

"Lastly is Magic Control. This is how finely you can control your skills, how well you can weave them. If a sculptor wanted to use his [Fine Engraving] skill to make detailed work into a wall, he’d need a very high Magic Control level to make a fine, delicate pattern. For girls, a [Weave Lace] skill will get you finer and finer lace the higher your Magic Control skill is."

I wasn’t going to spend my precious time and magic making lace. Although, thinking about it, maybe I could get a skill to help with my hair.

"To recap. Magic power is how powerful your skills can be. Magic control is how well you can control your skills. Mana controls your mana pool, and mana regen fuels it all"

"Now, to finish this all off, I need to let you know about trade-offs. For every 8 points in Magic Power you get, you’ll lose a point of Magic Control. For every 8 points of Magic Control you get, you’ll lose a point of Magic Power. The same is true for Strength and Dexterity. For every eight points of Strength, you’ll lose one of Dexterity, and vice-versa. This only applies to the ‘class’ stats – your ‘natural’ stats don’t change. Any questions?"

A flurry of questions erupted from the other kids, while I sat and pondered the System. It really did seem like you could be physical, and quite good at it, or magical, while weak physically. Could you do both? Would it be worse than either? How did I want to build my stats? If I wanted to be Elaine, the [Archmage], probably deep into the Magic stats. But did I want to focus on power, or control? Big mana pools, or good regen? Or could I have it all? Arghhh… I needed to know more. First reading. Then books. Then plotting. Then…. I swear I could feel steam coming out of my ears as I tried to digest everything I had just been given.

Chapter 5

SYSTEM DAY IV

"Ok! Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about elements!" Elements? Ooooh, more cool things! I wanted a fire element! Fireballs!

I’d seen a few merchants having flaming signs in the marketplace, Fire totally HAD to be an element.

"Each Class has an associated element with it. For the most part, any element can go with any class, but most classes benefit from having particular elements. For example, you could have [Courier] be an Earth class, but he’d most likely benefit from having a Wind class instead."

Elements leaned into things. Particular jobs wanted particular elements. Easy enough.

"Something like a [Blacksmith] could have fire, and have skills related to forges and heat. They could have an earth element, and deal with molds and the furnace. Metal would naturally be one of the most useful, probably getting some direct manipulation skills. Water is rarely seen with a blacksmith, but it could help with quenching. Wind is also pretty rare with a blacksmith, but they’d move faster, and have sharper weapons." Elements! Fire. My eyes were blazing with rapt focus.

"The Elements come in four pairs of two, and they’re paired up equal and opposite just like the stats they help. They are: Fire and Water; Earth and Wind; Light and Dark; Wood and Metal. Fire goes with Strength. That means if your class is Fire-aligned, for each level in the class you get, you’ll gain a point in Strength as well! Isn’t that neat!"

"Fire is Strength. Water, opposing it, is Dexterity. Just like how getting points in Strength will eventually lower your Dexterity, Fire and Water oppose each other."

"Earth is Vitality, while Wind is Speed."

"Light is Mana Regeneration, while Darkness is Mana."

"Lastly, Wood is Magic Control, while Metal is Magic Power."

Fyto spoke up at this moment. "Would you like a demonstration of skills and magic?"

A mad chorus of yes’s came from all of us except Kerberos. A chance to see magic performed for us? Yes please!

Fyto walked over to the patch of dirt, touched it with his foot, and intoned for our sake:

"[Full Field Plow]."

A ripple went over the field, turning the messy mud into neat rows of plowed earth, ready to be seeded.

I’d seen magic before - everyone used it every day - but this seemed to be a step up from usual!

Arotro only gestured, and suddenly there were dozens of seeds that came from him, floating around the room. They playfully moved along the room, settling into neat rows on the plowed field.

Prasinos lastly walked over, bent over – oh god that beautiful purple tunic better not touch dirt that would be a Major Sin – and spoke:

"Watch carefully. This is what a [Rapid Growth] skill can do."

The field exploded with growth. Squash, squash everywhere. I was amazed at the display of magic – real magic, not the small-time stuff the merchants did every day, and more amazed at how quickly the three of them had turned a patch of dirt into viable, tasty crops. And it was all done inside!

"An amazing example of the Earth, Spore, and Verdant elements. There are a few more elements I didn’t mention, because they’re more advanced. Each pairing of primary elements creates a new, secondary element."

That was – I did some quick thinking – a lot more elements.

"Let’s talk about classes quickly before I let you run around and play."

"When the system unlocks, and as you advance, you’ll always have a class. It could be [Baker]. It could be [Soldier]. It could be [House Wife]. It could be bad, like [Thief]. You’ll usually have several options to choose from. You level up by doing things related to your class – in your case, simply being a child will level you up. Doing things outside of your class will also get you experience, but not as much as things inside of your class. Killing mean monsters will always get you lots of experience!"

"When your system unlocks, you’ll get your starter class automatically – it’ll probably be [Child of Remus] or [Child of Pallos], the first being much more common. You’ll gain a few levels, depending on what you’ve been doing since you were born, and when you finally get level 8, you’ll be able to get a new class! Exciting!"

"We’re not sure on everything that decides a new class, but it seems to be based somewhat on your skills, what you’ve picked with them, and how high you’ve leveled them up. You will always have a choice when it comes to your non-starter classes. Listen to what your parents have to say, they should be able to get you a nice class to start with!"

"Lastly, I’m sure you’re wondering why there are so many objects and things around the room. This is because of skills. Each class can have eight skills, and then you can have eight general skills on top of that. What skills you get, what skills you level, and how high you level them help determine what classes you’re offered. All of the things around the room are designed to get you started on various skills – if you start to make a pot out of clay, you’ll unlock the [Pottery] skill, and possibly even the [Ceramicist] class. If you swing a sword, you might get a fighting skill, and maybe even unlock the [Soldier Trainee] class if you’re very lucky! Lastly, trying many different things like this is almost guaranteed to get you the [Apprentice] class when you get to level 8, which will be useful for getting an apprenticeship."

Sacerdus was saying something. I was too busy looking around. What stations did I want to try? The eight stations near the start made a lot more sense now – there was one for each element. Did that allow me to get some affinity for that element, unlocking the class? A pile of blocks, a block of clay, some dirty strips in a pile – lots of things for me to explore and try! It was clear now that I was supposed to try different things at different places, and pick up skills that way for my eventual leveling up! I chuckled as I rubbed my hands together, eager to start.

"Now, girls, if you’ll leave, the boys can get started on the skills portion of today." Kerberos leapt up with a happy cry, and immediately ran over to the swords. I just sat there stunned, trying to process what I had just heard.

What. Completely stunned, visions of playing with hammers and blocks falling out of my mind, I didn’t resist at all as mom came over to pick me up. Perhaps sensing my inner turmoil, she picked me up and carried me out as thick, hot tears came spilling out of my eyes into her shoulder.

"It’s not fair," I choked out between sobs. "I wanted to play with all the things… and get skills."

"Shhh shhhh" Mom rocked me as she carried me back. "It’s ok. Hey, listen, let’s get you some food, and I’ll teach you some things that might turn into skills once we get back! Ok?"

I furiously shook my head into her shoulder, sobbing my dreams out. Sensing the mood, mom continued to rock me and make soothing noises at me as we made it back across town to home. Coming inside, she laid me down on one of the recliners, and took my sandals off for me. I would normally complain about being treated like a baby, but I just didn’t care. What was the point of coming back with my memories intact, if I was just going to be stymied at every turn? What was the point of having magic, if it seemed like I wouldn’t be allowed to learn it? Mom picked me up and brought me to the bedroom, where she proceeded to tuck me in. Upset, exhausted, every bit of strength wrung out of me, I went to sleep.

System Day sucked.

Chapter 6

LEARNING SKILLS I

I woke up in the evening feeling drained and exhausted, but no longer nearly so actively upset. I reflexively checked my timer – 55 hours to go – before remembering that it seemed like skills and magic weren’t going to be for me. What was the point. I flipped over in bed, stuck my head under the pillow, and moped some more.

I was clearly not going to earn myself the [Stealth] skill anytime soon since dad heard me and entered the room.

"Hey kiddo," he said "How’re you feeling?"

I grunted back. How did he think I was feeling?

"Hey, so I know you’re upset, but it’ll be ok! Most everyone learns their skills from their parents anyways, or picks them up as they go along. You’ll be fine! Julia will teach you eeeeeeeeeeverything you’ll need to know!"

I sat up in bed, picked up my pillow, and threw it at him. It wasn’t a great shot, and it was just a pillow, but the message was clear.

"Ok, Ok, I get it" he said chuckling "I talked with mom. After you’ve unlocked the system, you can come with me for a few days while I do my rounds, and we’ll see what we can do with picking up skills. After all, you can try to get carpentry by sticking a knife in the block of wood at the temple, or you could’ve a real live [Carpenter] show you how it’s done until you get the skill! Doesn’t that sound so much better?"

I perked up, not believing my ears. Not only would I get to try all sorts of fun things, I was almost guaranteed to get the skill? That sounded great! A small part of me whispered that I should still be upset over my treatment at the temple, that it was still unfair to girls everywhere that we were denied that chance, but I was far too excited to listen to that voice. Right now.

"Yay dad you’re the best!" I jumped up to hug him "I can’t wa-" *GURGLEGURGLEGURLE*

I went beet red as my stomach rebelled, informing me in no uncertain terms that I needed to eat.

Dad laughed. "Julia also mentioned that you didn’t have lunch. Come on, let’s go get some dinner together."

Weee! Getting dinner with dad meant we weren’t cooking – it meant we were going to raid a food stand! I needed a good raiding hat. Maybe a raiding party.

"Let’s go!" I bolted out of the room, out of the door, and was about to turn down the street when-

"Elaine! Your sandals!"

Ah right, those. I sighed, turned about, and put my sandals on as dad caught up.

"Here" He handed me four iron coins. "You’ll be deciding and buying today. Ok?"

Better and better! I was always considered too young to do the shopping – the most I did was tag along. Now I finally had money! The world was my oyster! Muwahahahahahahaha. I rubbed my hands together, plotting.

I played with the coins dad gave me, turning them over in my hands. They were circular, with a triangular hole in the middle. I traced my finger over the ridges outside of the coin, then stuck my finger into the hole in the middle, feeling the ridges on the inside as well. I had always wondered -

"Dad, why do the coins have holes?"

"Smart girl! It’s so you can thread them onto a rod, see?" Taking a coin from me, he took one of the long triangular rods by the wall and threaded the coin onto it. "It’s hard to carry and deal with a bunch of money at once, and at a certain point a coin pouch won’t do it anymore. So, we thread them onto a rod instead! 64 coins on a metal pole make a rod."

He took the coins off the rod and handed them back to me. We left the house, and almost immediately got ambushed by my favorite person in the world!

"Lyra!" I waved at her.

"Elaine! Yay!" She bounced over. "Time to play?"

I glanced at dad, who simply arched an eyebrow at me.

"Gotta get lunch. Dad’s making me buy!"

"Oooh, nice! Can I come?"

I looked at dad again, who looked sad for some reason.

"Of course you can come with us Lyra." He said.

Why would he be sad at Lyra coming with us? It was Lyra! Eating with her was always more fun, even if she stole my food half the time.

The street we were on had some vendors, but I was filthy rich now, and I wanted to hunt bigger game. Rolling the coins in my hand, we wandered down the main road while I let my nose try to find the best smelling vendor.

I was only a liiiiiiiitle distracted by Lyra.

"Let’s play in the park later! Soldiers vs Formorians!" Lyra punched the air a few times, shadowboxing invisible enemies in the grey zone.

"Your mother won’t be happy if you come back home with another black eye." Dad warned me.

"She won’t!" Lyra jumped in between dad and I, pretending to thrust an invisible spear at him. "I’ll defend her! Ha! Ya!"

"And Lyra’s mom won’t get mad at her for coming home with a black eye!" I added in. "It’s perfect!"

Dad looked upset. I dunno why, it seemed like a perfectly good plan, and black eyes healed anyways.

Plus, mom was a super cool healer! She always fixed us up.

I was the only one that got a lecture for it though.

Eventually my dogged pursuit of tasty food led us to a stall, where I stared up at the man tending the stall.

"Two pitas please!" I asked in my best not-a-kid-anymore voice. He looked down at me, looked up at my dad. Smiled.

"That’ll be five iron coins please." My face fell. I turned around and looked pleadingly at dad, who just raised an eyebrow, mouth studiously still. Lyra was practically drooling at the food.

I turned back, determined to separate the vendor from his delicious smelling food, puffed out my chest, and insisted "Four iron coins! All I have!"

Dad facepalmed while the vendor laughed.

"Deal" he quickly insisted, and I had the sudden feeling that I’d been had. I reluctantly handed over the entirety of my dragon’s hoard, and greedily grabbed the pitas.

Whirling around, I looked at dad and Lyra a bit awkwardly.

"Ummm… oops." My mind raced, and I came to the only logical conclusion.

"Here!" I offered dad and Lyra one of the pitas each, ignoring my traitorous stomach loudly rebelling.

Death to traitors! We threw them into the gladiator pits here! My stomach would be glorious entertainment for the unwashed masses!

Which definitely wasn’t me. Nope.

Dad pushed his back to me.

"I’m fine kiddo, eat up!"

Lyra had wolfed down the portion I offered her, and was practically done by the time I got my first bite in.

"Oh thanks Elaine, that was great!" She practically rammed into me, hugging me with one arm as she licked her other hand clean. "You’re the absolute best!"

"No you!"

We debated the merits of who was the better friend as we wandered back home.

"Well! This is goodbye for now! Come out and play when you can!" Lyra cheerfully waved and skipped down the street.

After a nice meal, dad sighed, and fully reclined on the recliner.

"You know kiddo," he started, "you overpaid at the vendor’s. Should’ve only been two, maybe three coins." I was shocked. Shocked! I got cheated? Wait, dad LET me get cheated? He was a guard! He was supposed to stop that type of thing!

"Why didn’t you say anything?" I glumly muttered, visions of my hoard being separated from me unjustly swimming through my mind.

"Because you’d never learn otherwise. It’s one thing to hear about it, to be told it, and another to experience it. Plus, the vendor overcharging you, with you negotiating it down, means you’re likely to get the bartering skills."

He paused, then said. "Want to hear a secret?"

Secrets! Secrets were great!

"Yeah!"

"Almost every girl is taken out around System Day or around the time they unlock the system with four coins, and brought to a vendor to buy something cheap. Vendor knows to charge 5, 6, 7 coins when this happens, but they allow themselves to get talked down to 4 or sometimes even less! Vendor makes a bit of extra money, you potentially get the bartering skill, everyone wins!"

I looked at dad with a mouth that could catch a thousand flies. Oh my gods. It was Santa Claus all over again, a grand societal conspiracy for the betterment of children. I felt a lot better about being ripped off, since I hadn’t really gotten ripped off, and really, it was dad’s money anyways.

My mind went to the obvious conclusion.

"So Lyra’s going to do something similar? Cool! I’ll have to ask what she did!"

Mom walked in at this point with a bag full of shopping, smiled at us, and went to the kitchen to drop off the food. She popped back out a minute later, and sat down at the table with us.

"Did dad go over the plan with you?"

"Just that I was going to be learning skills from him!"

"Yes, but remember – the next two days until you unlock the system, you’re MINE." She said with a mischievous, gleeful look in her eyes.

I gulped. Getting skills might not be as fun as I thought. Lyra save meeeeee.

Chapter 7

LEARNING SKILLS II

Not all skill learning was made equal. I had always thought mom was a harsh taskmistress. No. She had been air and sunshine up until now. I cooked. I baked. I sewed some clothes, fixed a sandal, washed a single shirt in a water bucket, repaired dad’s armor, swept the floor, cleaned out the oven, repaired a window slate (I swear it hadn’t been broken yesterday…), stuffed a pillow, changed the straw, bought more food at market, hauled water from the river, scrubbed the walls (mold was a persistent bastard), made anti-bug herbal pouches, and generally did 1001 things around the house – none of them in a large, sustained way, but enough to get a glimpse, a proper idea of exactly what it took to keep the place running and looking nice.

Like. I’d done almost all of these things already. A few things I’d been just a hair too young for, until now, but by and large it was a full-system review of every single chore mom could think of, regardless if it was a daily chore, weekly, monthly, or something we only did once a year.

By the time the late afternoon rolled around, I was exhausted.

Of course, that’s when Lyra swung by. Saved by my angel! However, Lyra was crying. This was no good. Elaine to the rescue! I swooped in and gave Lyra a huge hug.

"You ok?" I softly asked.

Lyra bit her lip, tears welling up.

"Yes." She croaked out.

Really? She didn’t look ok. Well, if she said so…

"Lyra! What happened!" My mom bustled over, half-shoving me out of the way.

"Wind weasel." She croaked out. I looked around her, seeing a pair of deep, nasty gashes on the back of her calves.

Ooooh, that had to hurt.

"You’re not ok! Why did you say you were ok!" I shouted in outrage to Lyra.

"Elaine." My mom’s soft voice was all warning, and I instinctively straightened up.

"Yes?" I meekly turned to mom, her face all thunderclouds. She sighed.

"We’ll talk later. Can you please help Lyra onto the patient recliner?" I walked over to Lyra, grabbed her hand, and helped her up onto the patient recliner. Having seen mom do stuff like this before, I told Lyra "Ok, you should roll onto your belly so we can see the backs of your legs." Lyra, trustingly rolled over.

Mom looked at me thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her lips. She seemed to come to a decision and asked: "Ok Elaine, what do we do next?"

"Look at it!"

"Very good! Let’s look at it together."

I only had to look down a bit to see Lyra’s calves while mom had to bend over to see. She poked around a bit, then took a step back, giving me a chance to look over every cut, every scrape carefully. It looked like a pair of sickles had hit each calf in an x-shape, but it didn’t look that deep or dangerous. Phewf. I patted Lyra’s shoulder and announced "You’ll be fine! Mom’s going to patch you right up!"

Mom walked back up to me. "Ok Elaine, what do we do now?"

"Clean the wound!" I spoke with complete self-assurance.

"Not quite. Being hit like that hurts! If we try to clean it, it’ll just hurt Lyra more! That would be bad. We should handle the pain first before cleaning it out. How can we handle the pain?"

That was a real stumper of a question. How did we stop pain? Did we have some sort of tea? I didn’t remember mom ever making tea for someone who came in for healing. Well, not for healing purposes anyways. Was it something we rubbed on them…? I looked at mom and shrugged. "I dunno."

For some reason this made mom smile. "It’s always good to admit when you don’t know something. In this case, I have a skill for it – [Minor Reduce Pain]." She brought her hand over to Lyra, and just like that she was done.

I’d been terribly disappointed the first time I’d seen magic in action. I’d expected to see MAGIC, a great flash of light, a massive mandala of mystic runes! Chanted words, summoned spirits, something.

I was disappointed. Turns out, a lot of skills were not super flashy, and were pretty anticlimactic. They just did things. Mom didn’t even need to say anything! She could’ve just touched Lyra, and boom! The skill was done. According to what I’d heard and figured out so far.

Most magic wasn’t anything like the display from the three farmers at the temple earlier. The only visible sign was Lyra’s face becoming less tense, and a deep sigh of contentment coming from her. How could I have known how to remove pain, when removing pain like that was via skill?

Thinking about it, this was a pretty good chance to ask about healing skills!

"Hey mom, how much mana was that skill? How much power did it take? How much regeneration do you have?" A veritable flood of questions came out of me, the damn bursting as I saw a chance to learn more about magic again. All questions I’d had for years. Everyone had always put me off, saying "wait until System day, I’ll tell you after System day."

Well, System day had come and passed, and now I was after ANSWERS!

"Wait until Lyra’s better before asking! Patients come first."

Shit Lyra! Of course she came first! Stupid distractable brain.

I almost patted her legs - they were nearby, after all - then realized it’d probably hurt her. I couldn’t do that! I patted her arm instead.

"Now what do we do, Elaine?"

"NOW we clean the wound!" This one I knew. I grabbed a rag near our bucket of water, and dunked it in. Thinking about it, this probably wasn’t very clean – the rag wasn’t sterile, and we had been using the water for other tasks – but I suppose it was good enough.

Hang on. I still knew that. I still knew germ theory! It didn’t get ripped from my mind! Holy shit, was this some sort of oversight? Heart and brain, lungs and guts, stomach and liver, muscles and DNA, viruses and bacteria, joints and tendons, blood and bones – Holy shit I still knew biology! I froze, like a massive [Icy Grip] had just been cast on me, mind whirling. Could I use this? Could I make something out of knowing this? How much could I reveal before someone became suspicious? Could I just claim divine inspiration for everything? After all, knowing all of this WAS technically due to divine intervention. Or not, depending on how you looked at it.

"Elaine, the rag’s not going to get any wetter the longer you leave it in the bucket." Mom called with amusement. I jumped about a foot in the air, and walked back to where Lyra was lying down. Act cool, act cool. Nothing to see here. I didn’t just get a Pallos-shattering revelation. Breathe in, breathe out.

Mom could clearly tell something was up with me, but she probably put it down to being nervous for helping her out in her little clinic for the first time, and working on my best friend to boot. I carefully wiped down Lyra’s legs, making sure each stroke was as slow and as gentle as possible. I was easily distractible, until it came to something that really, REALLY needed my focus, and right now, this required every single bit of effort I could muster. No mistakes! No problems! No dirt left behind! I was going to do this RIGHT, so I could keep helping mom out. Lyra needed to get better, there were no other options. How could we run around on adventures, raiding merchants, bothering guards, if she wasn’t able to run around? She would get caught in an instant! Seeing her proud smile on her face as I was doing this, I wanted that approval, I needed that praise. So, dirt! Foul nemesis! Begone!

"Thanks Elaine." Lyra softly murmured, and those two words had pride and happiness bouncing around inside me like a pair of happy puppies. A gigantic involuntary smile split my face in half.

I might have slightly lost track of time as mom coughed gently behind me, and said "Hey, I think her legs are clean enough, we should bandage them up now." I jumped, face flushing bright red. I just wanted to be thorough, ok?? Covering my embarrassment, I grabbed some thick woolen bandages that we had already prepared, and ran back over to Lyra. I started wrapping, and soon The Mummy re-emerged – as seen from the knees down. I stood back, admiring my work. Mom came over, and ruffled my hair.

"Good job Elaine! That’s great for your first effort! You might even get the [Bandaging] skill, or EVEN the [First Aid] skill! Wouldn’t that be great!"

I squirmed happily under the praise. This was a nice feeling. Lyra got up, and without warning, gave me a huge hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you! It feels so much better now!"

A warm glow went through me. This healing business was nice!

Mom looked at us amused.

"You two should go play now. Inside."

Yeah… we shouldn’t run around too much for now.

I grabbed my doll, and showed it to Lyra.

"This is Bella! She’s usually an [Archmage], but today she’s a [Healer]!"

She knew all that of course – we had played mages and monsters, lovers and liars, and thousands of other games with our dolls, one of the only toys we had that were truly ours, and not just some communal thing or rocks we had found, or sticks we had shaped.

"Oooooh," cooed Lyra "Daphne is a [Divine Priestess], she’s a priestess of the goddess of the moon!"

"Which one?" That was always the question with Lyra’s doll. Mom had made it for her a few years ago! Two moons, two goddesses, Lyra’s doll could be either one. Lucky twins. Not born twins, friend-twins. Like us!

"Lunaris!"

We happily played together, not even noticing when dinner came out. It was quite eye-opening when mom said "Ok Elaine, I think Lyra needs to go home now." I happily waved goodbye, with us making promises to meet up tomorrow in the park. Checking with our moms? Nah, no need. Getting in bed was a whirlwind, and as I looked up at the ceiling, I happily kicked my feet.

Lyra was the best friend ever.

Chapter 8

LEARNING SKILLS III

I bounced out of bed the next morning with the wild ferocity of an over-sugared 8-year-old. BIRTHDAY! At last!

The system lock did a great job at reminding me that while yes, it was my birthday, I still had 19 hours, 11 minutes, and 40 seconds left to go until the actual 8-year-anniversary-to-the-minute of my birth. Bah humbug. It was my birthday already! Unlock! Unloooooock! I’d grab and shake the System if only I could get a grip on it. Getting up carefully to avoid waking up mom and dad – he was shifting back over to day-duty – I wandered around the house getting ready for the morning.

A brief whirlwind of chores in the morning, then lunch! Mom had cooked, shooing me out of the kitchen – a rarity when she was trying to get me every skill possible. Dad was around as well, and the three of us sat down together for a delicious lunch. Once it was over, there was a surprise for me!

"Happy Birthday Elaine" mom said. "Hair up."

I dutifully grabbed the back of my hair and lifted it up, as mom put a pendant around my neck. It was made of iron, and it was the same diamond-shape that I had seen in the temple.

"For bringing good luck. For protection. My awakening gift to you. I hope it’ll keep you safe, the same way it kept me safe, the same way it kept your grandmother safe." Mom smiled at me.

I teared up at the gift. I had no words. I got up and gave mom a big, crushing hug. As crushing as an 8-year-old can get anyways – blast my low strength stat, it didn’t adequately let me show how much it meant to me.

"Elaine," my dad said, taking out a modest knife and sheath, "this is also for you. For warding off bad luck. For safety. This is not a toy, and you can start wearing it once we’ve finished lessons with it together. But treat it well, and it’ll be with you the rest of your life."

Mom had a quick flash of annoyance go over her face, I solemnly took the knife out of the sheath. It was four inches of Noric steel, with a beautiful pommel capped with a small clear crystal.

"The crystal is an Arcanite. Your mom and I both know how much you dream of being a mage, and even if you don’t go down that path, the Arcanite in the handle will help you with your mana reserves. Treat it well."

Oh my gods. Arcanite. Noric Steel. I didn’t want to imagine how much this knife cost. I gave dad a less-fierce hug, trying to show my self-control and maturity, that I was worthy of the gift he had gotten me. There would be no wild flailing on mango skin with this knife. There would be no attempts to cut my hair either. I winced at the memory of the spanking I had gotten with mom’s spoon for trying that. This knife wasn’t a toy.

"Now," mom said, clapping her hands together. "Something a bit more fun!" mom exclaimed, pulling out a tunic.

Hang on, that wasn’t a beige bamboo tunic. That was a beautiful bamboo tunic, with a bright green trim on the edges. It was beautiful. I was in love.

"Are… are you sure mom?" I looked up inquisitively. I wanted this tunic. I needed this tunic. But I couldn’t believe it was being given to me. I got dirty. I wiped greasy fingers on my shirt. I spilt mango juice all over myself. In short, I was a filthy, grubby, rapidly growing kid that had no business being in a dyed shirt, let alone a beauty like this one.

Mom seemed to sense my thoughts, and helped me out. "Well, this isn’t to wear every day. And as you get older, you’ll be able to take the trims and move them into a bigger shirt. It’s my devious master plan to get you enthusiastic about sewing."

Master plan success. While I had never been reluctant to sew things, I had never really been that passionate about it. Now [Sewing] was near the top of my "must-have" list of skills.

I was overwhelmed and happy at how much thought and care went into the gifts my parents got me for my birthday. I quietly swore to myself that I’d get them something extra-nice this year. Money was a problem though – nobody was going to pay an eight-year-old anything. If anything, I would have to be the one paying to learn things. Maybe I could get some lessons from the light-fingered kids at the market. Afterall, it was for a good cause.

I changed into my brilliant new tunic, giving myself a happy whirl in it. Happy greens! I was entering the big leagues!

After lunch and the birthday presents, blessedly, mom had mercy on me! No chores! Birthday treat! Off to the park we went! Trees and flowers and grass, all in the middle of town! We made it to the park, and mom let me run around while she went over to some benches with some other parents keeping a benevolent eye on all of us. I found Lyra at our usual spot, working on her knucklebones game.

"Lyra!" "Elaine!" One great big fierce hug later, "How are your legs? Are they ok?" I looked down, noticing my mummy impression was still there.

"Yeah, they feel fine! You’re amazing! That tunic is so nice!"

"Thank you! I just got it as a birthday present!" I felt a little bad wearing the tunic here. Lyra’s clothes were always ratty.

Lyra and I hadn’t gotten each other presents. It just wasn’t a thing here.

"When are you unlocking? I unlock tonight! I can't wait!"

13 hour, 18 minutes, and 5 seconds left. I was counting down every moment.

"Wellll…" Lyra responded, mischief in her eyes. "I UNLOCKED THIS MORNING!"

"OHMYGOD!" with much grabbing of hands and jumping up and down. "What class did you get? What level did you get? What skills?? Tell me everything!"

After much excitement, happy noises, and rapid-fire-too-excited-to-follow, I finally got a complete picture. Lyra had gotten the [Child of Remus] class with a Wood alignment, a fairly standard one for people in the Republic of Remus. She had gone right up to level 7, which I had no benchmark for how impressive it was. As a result, she was sitting on 14 free stat points to allocate, and she hadn’t done any allocation yet. "Because mom and dad need to chat and figure out where I’m putting them. And they want to see what class I unlock at level 8."

It made sense that Lyra’s parents would want to do a bit of min-maxing on her skills and abilities, but that made me fearful myself. Would mom and dad insist that I allocate my points a certain way? Would I be given any leeway? The fact that we hadn’t had the conversation yet made me nervous, and they had been acting incredibly nice recently. Was I being softened up for a terrible blow to come? Ah well, problem for future me. Today was for fun!

I didn’t usually play with anyone else, but Lyra did! I tried out knucklebones, borrowing Lyra’s set and failing miserably. Higher dexterity was better for this game, and I glanced suspiciously at Lyra, wondering if she had secretly allocated a point or two into it. It could also be experience, since I wasn’t the biggest fan of the game while Lyra loved it. I was getting bored when two boys – Quintus and Pentus - came over with a ball, and asked Lyra:

"Hey, do you two want to play?" Quintus inquired.

I didn’t like playing with others. Usually we played Formorians vs Soldiers or Rangers vs Bandits, and I was ALWAYS a Formorian or a bandit, it wasn’t fair. Usually Lyra would help me out, but Formorians always lost. It was the rules. I hated getting hit with sticks.

At least when I was a bandit I’d get my own stick to swing at people.

Lyra did like playing, even as a Formorian. It was the source of most of her black eyes, but she usually gave TWICE as many as she got! She was amazing like that. She gave me puppy eyes. It was our birthday I suppose.

"Fine, fine. Let’s go!"

The game looked and sounded suspiciously like volleyball. How old was that game? A few more kids rounded up for an opposing team, and off we went!

Me, Lyra, Quintus, and Pentus were all on the same team, against a girl and three other boys. We were all about the same age, but I didn’t recognize any of them. I stood in the back as the girl on the other team inexpertly served the ball up. A slow, lazy move over, as Quintus, Pentus, and Lyra all moved to intercept. The concept of standing apart for the good of the team wasn’t quite a concept most kids had gotten yet – it was more fun to chase after the ball and hit it after all. I couldn’t blame them – I would be there if I wasn’t trying to keep my tunic nice and clean.

POP! Ball went up, but instead of going back over the three-foot-tall net, it headed up and back towards me. The benefits of standing away. I popped the ball back over, a long, lazy shot, and the four kids on the other side all scrambled for it. Up high it went on their side, staying on their side, when one of the boys dove to hit it again. The dive was good! He hit it, up it went! … and promptly landed back on their side.

Lyra and I stifled giggles, while the diver brushed himself off. His mom was going to be pissed, but better him than me! One point to us! The winning wasn’t nearly as important as the fun, and I had dramatically under-estimated just how fun this was. I had been missing out! Kids played terribly, coordinated terribly, and didn’t do much in the way of planning to win (although they were trying), but in spite of all of that, I found myself having a blast with Lyra.

The game went back and forth, points being traded equally. 4-3. 6-7. 10-10. I was being mindful of my nice new tunic, and I was just trying to have fun, so I wasn’t putting in my best effort. At the same time, since I wasn’t constantly running straight to the ball, I was able to contribute quite a bit more. Lyra winced and grimaced at one point, rubbing her legs. She eventually started to mimic me, keeping her feet planted unmovingly in one spot. Her mummy bandages now looked the proper dusty brown of a mummy, and that made me giggle.

It couldn’t last forever, nothing does. The shadows were starting to get a bit longer as we heard the inevitable "Elaine!" "Lyra!" "Time to go home! Do you want to go home now, or do one more round then go home?" The score was tied, 12-12. While I wasn’t hellbent on winning, it would be nice. Plus, the longer we stayed, the better!

"One more one more!" was the near unanimous chorus from the eight of us. Their parents were also circling, but at that they started saying their goodbyes to each other. Adults. Always needing to take the long way with things.

Lyra served. The ball went up and over, and another one of the nameless boys on their side bounced it back. They had learned from us, and were no longer all desperately sprinting after the ball. I felt a little proud of that, being able to teach and show kids how to do things. Maybe I’d take a [Teacher] class? The ball was going a bit far – it’d be out of bounds if that sort of thing mattered to kids – but Quintus ran after it anyway, hitting it back towards us. Lyra was firmly standing her ground, and Pentus had been running after the ball anyways, hitting it back up and over, directly to the nameless girl. The rest of their team clustered around her anyways. She effortlessly hit it back (She was so good, did she already have a [Volleyball Player] class or something!?), and it went straight to Lyra. She reached out awkwardly, and hit it towards me.

I watched it slowly spiral up and to the side lazily. Everyone else was on the other side of the field. I ran for it, trying to get it. I could dive for it. I’d get it, they were out of position on the other side of the net. We’d win, glory and fame for us forever. It’d ruin my shirt.

I took a deep breath, steeled myself, extended my arms, and –

Missed the ball, watching it drop just in front of my arms. Ah well, such is life.

Whoops and cheers from the other team, groaning and disappointed noises from our team. I shrugged. It's how things went sometimes. Time to go ho-WHAM.

I suddenly felt two hands on me violently moving me out of the way, head snapping back as I gasped in shock.

I barely managed to catch myself, whirling around in anger. Who – Lyra!? Why would she – I spotted a large glob of mud on her back. Oh. OH. Lyra got up, wincing as she got up.

"Are you ok?" we asked at the same time, ignoring our parents descending on us. "Yeah" we both said at the same time. Twins!

I wanted to ask what happened, but from the yelling noises Pentus’s parent was making, I was able to piece it together.

Pentus had seen that I probably could’ve dived for the ball, and chose not to. Upon us losing the point, and with us going home, the match, he did what every reasonable (NOT!) kid would do – throw mud at me. At my nice new tunic. Lyra, seeing this, pushed me out of the way and took the mud pie for me.

Best. Friend. Ever.

Those JERKS though! I was going to murder them! Jackasses! Dino-turds!

I started to stomp over, when Lyra grabbed my sleeve. I stopped and cocked my head at her, looking at her crazy grin. "What is it?"

"I leveled up from that." She responded, with a grin that would split her face in half if it got any bigger.

"YAAAAAAAY!" I cried, doing some quick math.

"Wait, that makes you level 8! You get to pick a class now!" jumping up and down with excitement. "What are your options? What does it look like? What are you going to pick? Are you going to be a [Divine Priestess] like Daphne?"

Lyra looked overwhelmed and as pleased as a cat with cream. "Silly Elaine!" she drew herself up, proud that she could teach me something. "You can’t just become a [Divine Priestess]. You’d have to pick something else that turns into a [Divine Priestess], like a uh… uhhh…. [Apprentice Divine Priestess]!" Stumbling in the middle, Lyra managed to stick the landing anyways. It was good information, although why my parents had never told me anything about classes evolving like that, and needing to go down a path, I didn’t know. Maybe it had something to do with the temple enforcing System Day being people’s first contact? An unimportant mystery, but maybe I needed to ask them for more information.

"Hey Lyra,"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me about the gods? I got this pendant for my birthday, I have seen the symbol in the temple, but I dunno what it means." I asked, fishing the pendant out from under my tunic. I had never been particularly religious, in spite of my meeting with Papilion. Probably should’ve asked these questions ages ago.

Ok. Fine. I’ll confess. I’d gotten the lectures ages ago, but I’d entirely tuned them out, and I’d pretended to know ever since, just nodding along whenever the gods were mentioned. I’d puzzled out a few things from context, but…

Well, I was ready to swallow my pride and get all the information. At last.

"Sure! Ok, ok, first there were five gods, the big gods! They made Pallos and everything on it!" Lyra grabbed the pendant, and started pointing. "On this side is life - Aion, on that side is death - Thanatos", pointing to the two side corners. "On the top is Order - Seira, on the bottom is Chaos - Xaoc. And Change – Papilion - is in the middle! He keeps everything moving and balanced."

Ah, Change, that bastard shows up again. Although from the sound of it, it was a bigwig that decided to interfere with me dying. I shrugged. It was done and over. No way I could get revenge on a god, let alone a Major God with capitals.

"Also, as you pray to the gods, you send mana to them. However, they can grant prayers if you’ve prayed enough! So you should pick one god, and only worship that god."

That was interesting. I figured if I was going to try that, I’d pray to Papilion. I had something of a working relationship with him already, and major god? God of change? Seemed pretty flexible.

Lyra scratched the back of her legs again through the bandages.

"You sure you're ok?" I asked.

"Yup! Completely fine!" She responded. I eyed her. I suspected she was lying again, like she’d lied to me earlier. Had… had she been doing that more often than just that one time, and I’d never noticed? Was I a bad friend? Or was I a good friend for believing her, and not pushing her? It wasn't my place to force her to tell me, yet. I wish she would though.

Our parents came to pick us up, but I owed Lyra. "Hey mom, do you have a spare tunic for Lyra? I want to wash hers. It’s the least I could do." Mom smiled, and with a spare tunic pulled out of nowhere, a quick change, and I suddenly had signed myself up for more laundry. It was for Lyra though, and that made me hum a happy tune on the way back home.

Dinner was over in a flash, and with 7 hours, 7 minutes, and 53 seconds to go, I couldn’t wait.

"Mom, can I pleaseeeee stay up? Pretty please?"

Mom and dad shared an amused look. I didn’t see what was so funny – this was serious! I wanted to watch my System unlock! Sure, it would be the middle of the night, but SYSTEM! MAGIC!

"Sure, but why don’t we get you a pillow and a blanket so you’re comfortable while you wait? And why don’t you change out of your nice tunic?"

Concessions. I narrowed my eyes. Fine, I could deal with that. We put the pillow on the high part of the recliner I was on, and I wrapped the absolutely massive blanket many, many times around me. [High Empress] Elaine was here! Bow before me! I settled in, and realized a few problems.

One – it was another 6 hours, 58 minutes, and 30 seconds to go.

Two – I had nothing to do but be excited.

Three – I needed to pee.

Unraveled myself, sprinted outside to the communal restroom (Thankfully with Inscriptions – the only ones I had ever seen), did my business, sprinted back. Re-ensconced, heart racing at a million miles an hour. 6 hours, 54 minutes, 45 seconds to go.

44 seconds to go.

43 seconds to go.

42 seconds to go.

The blankets were warm and cozy, and the pillow was so soft and inviting. There was no real reason to stay upright the whole time now, was there?

I started at the timer slowly counting down. 5 hours, 16 minutes, 32 seconds to go. I yawned. Blinked. 2 hours, 29 minutes, 5 seconds. Blinked, and -

Chapter 9

THE SYSTEM UNLOCKS!

I yawned, tried to stretch, was caught in a massive blanket for some reason, and tumbled off the recliner. My head turned into a sharp star of pain as it decided to land first – ouch. Why was I wrapped up in a blanket? Why was I sleeping on the recliner? Why – my system was unlocked! A massive slew of notifications demanded my attention, and I greedily read them all.

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve survived your early years, and the system is now fully unlocked for you!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve earned your first class – [Child of Earth] - Wood]

[Child of Earth] – A starter class for a girl from Earth. +3 free stat points per level.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 2! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 3! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 4! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 5! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 6! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 7! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 8! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]

[*ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Prayer]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Observe]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Sleeping]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Identify]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Meditate]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Acting]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Walking]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Running]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Climbing]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Gymnastics]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Throwing]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Play Fighting]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Daydreaming]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Skipping]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Hopping]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Jumping]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Cooking]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Baking]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Spotting]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Fumigation]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Knives]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Fumbling]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Mango Cutting]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [First Aid]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Fires]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Laundry]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Food Prep]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Sweeping]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Cleaning]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Tidying]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Sewing]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Knitting]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Examine Patient]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Clean Wounds]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Bandaging]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Anatomy]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Teach Children]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Volleyball]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Vigilant]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Adaptable]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Active]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Learning]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Calm]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Daring]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Adventurous]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Pretty]!]

Skills, skills, skills! Some general, some passive. I wasn’t quite sure what the difference between them was, although I could guess based on the name. I read the details of every single skill, eager to know what they all did.

However, it hadn’t really occurred to me until now that there was a LIMIT on how many skills I could have. Dinodung.

[General skills]

[Skill Slot 1: Open]

[Skill Slot 2: Open]

[Skill Slot 3: Open]

[Skill Slot 4: Open]

[Skill Slot 5: Open]

[Skill Slot 6: Open]

[Skill Slot 7: Open]

[Skill Slot 8: Open]

I wanted them all, but it looked like I needed to make some hard choices. Before I could really start examining all of my skills to see exactly what they did, mom and dad wandered over.

"Ahha! I knew I heard the sounds of a sneaky thief falling into a blanket trap!" Dad announced teasingly. Picking me up, spinning me about, he declared "Gotcha!"

"Ok, ok" mom said, ever the serious one. "Put Elaine down so she can tell us what she got."

I settled in as mom got us all breakfast, and started to share all of the skills I had gotten. I was surprised at the end that mom was frowning.

"You didn’t get a single social skill? No [Bartering], no [Chatting], no [Charming], not even [Gossip] or anything similar? Are you sure Elaine? I know you’re not a big fan of playing with the other kids, but you shouldn’t hide skills from us. You were playing with Lyra just the other day, you went bartering with dad, you should’ve gotten SOMETHING."

I continued to get the stink-eye as I insisted I didn’t have any of those skills.

"Alright Elaine, why don’t you go down to the river and do some laundry while dad and I talk? Please don’t allocate any of your points while you’re at it."

I could tell when I was being given busy-work to keep me out of their hair, but I did want to get Lyra’s tunic clean for her. And I could finally walk outside of the grey zone by myself! Feeling Very Important as I walked down the white zone, I almost missed the cry of "out of the way". I froze for a moment, then realized they were probably yelling at me! Without looking I threw myself into the grey zone, only to see a wagon going full speed in the light early morning traffic. Everyone involved preferred that Elaine-flavored mango paste did NOT end up all over the road.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Dodging]!]

[Dodging: With quick reflexes you’ve dodged death or dismemberment. This skill will help you do that again. Increased reflexes, speed, and perception per level when dodging]

Well, sure, I guess. Near-death experience, new skill. I wasn’t complaining about getting the skill, but the DAMN LUNATICS DRIVING IN THE ROAD NEEDED TO PAY ATTENTION. Traffic. Couldn’t get rid of it even through space and time. I suspect if I had gotten hit, I would have been doing a lot more than complaining. The rest of the trip and the wash was uneventful, and I got to happily share with the other women at the communal laundry that today was THE day I unlocked, and I was working on figuring out what skills to pick. Naturally, everyone washing clothes at the river had inputs. Some of the ladies had nice Aura skills that helped people be calm and happy, or did something else nice. Usually they formed the center of a cluster, and today I got a minor experience of what that was like as everyone wanted to give me their advice. It was nice, but I could see it getting old.

"Get [Knitting]! Great for making your own clothes, can’t be beat!"

"You simply MUST try to get [Bartering]! Merchants will fleece you otherwise poor dear."

"Oooh, [Pretty] is a great passive! Lots of fun" one of the prettier ladies advised me.

"[Teach Children]!"

"[Running]!" "No [Walking]!" "[Running]!" "[Walking]!" Two ladies did their best impression of ‘Duck Season/Rabbit Season’ as they argued the merits of running vs walking. I missed Looney Tunes.

It was nice having everyone fuss over me and to chat with everyone, but the morning was hot, and soon enough the clothes I brought were dry. Everyone having an opinion and telling me what to take was draining as well – I was overwhelmed, and they weren’t helping. I took them off of the communal drying line, and headed back home, blessedly uneventfully.

I made it home, to find mom and dad waiting for me. They clearly had figured out what skills and stats I was going to get. I tensed, waiting for their verdict, the grand parental judgment to be handed down. On one hand, I wanted to be my own person, I wanted to make my own choices. On the other, they had a pretty good idea of what skills were good, and what skills were suboptimal. Listening to them, following what they said, had a solid chance of helping me out down the line.

"Elaine. We’ve decided. The two of us together are picking a skill for you to have, then we’re each picking out two skills we think you should have. That’ll give you three skills for you to pick yourself! Ok?"

That… didn’t sound awful. I was cautious though. I wasn’t going to surrender without a fight.

"Maybe… what skills are you picking?"

"Elaine." Dad’s face looked like a thunderstorm. Uh oh, I’ve stepped in it now. "This isn’t really a negotiation. We could pick out all eight skills for you if you’d prefer."

Despots! Tyrants! This was a democracy, not a dictatorship!

Hang on, was it? There was no schooling, no civics lessons, and it had never come up. I had assumed we were living with a king, etc., but I had never learned the word for king, and there seemed to be a complete dearth of nobles. And we lived in the Republic of Remus, and there’d been that voting day a few years ago… I filed the thought away for another time.

"Fine, fine. What skills am I getting?" I asked, throwing my hands up in surrender.

"Well, we’ve both decided that you need [Identify]. Almost everyone has it. It’ll help you figure out how good someone is, pick the right shopkeeper, and help you avoid danger."

I focused, and found [Identify] in my menus.

[Identify: You’ve looked around the world, and you want to know more. This skill will help you grasp basic information and identities from people and creatures around you. Increased range per level. Current range: .5 Meters]

This… didn’t seem to be the worst skill to get. Not sure why it was displayed in metric, ‘meters’ weren’t a thing here, but there was no telling with all-powerful magical systems. Ok, let’s do it.

"I pick Identify!" I proudly announced. Dad’s thundercloud face suddenly became a poker face. Mom shouldn’t play poker, as she fell off the chair laughing. Nothing else happened, as mom’s gasping, wailing laughs filled the home. Well, nothing else except my face turning beet red, and a strong desire to mimic an ostrich filled me. "Well, how do you get a skill then?" I asked with not a small amount of anger. Tell me these things damnit!

Dad, slowly, word by word, with great restraint, trying to avoid making me feel any worse: "Just focus on the skill, and think about selecting it. If you ever need to replace a skill, focus on the skill you’re replacing at the same time."

Seemed easy enough. I closed my eyes, and focused on [Identify].

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve learned [Identify] – level 1!]

Humiliation from earlier fresh in my mind, I decided I’d look before I leapt, and ask how to do things before trying.

"How do I use [Identify]?"

"Look at me, then focus on using [Identify]. It’ll take some practice at first, but you’ll get the hang of it."

I looked at dad, and followed his directions. My mana dipped one point. A SKILL! MAGIC! Huzzah!

[Warrior]

Well, that wasn’t all that useful. I guess it was because I was so low-level. Or that the skill was low-level. Just telling me he was a warrior didn’t do all that much. I thought he was a guard? Shouldn’t I be getting useful information? And why was it pink?

"Why am I getting a pink warrior back dad? You’re a guard, right?"

Dad looked like he ate a surprise lemon. "Light red dear, I’m light red. Everyone starts off white. As you level up, you get redder and redder! They say the strongest humans are a bright, vivid red! Scary! If you see a [Warrior] that’s very red, you know they’re dangerous. If they’re white, you know they’re low-level. To help you get an idea, my highest class is level 183 – [Stout Guard]. Please don’t tell other people what my class is. Generally, it’s kept a secret. Alright, walk over to the door, then try to [Identify] mom."

I did exactly what he said, but nothing happened. I looked over puzzled.

"Remember how it told you the range was 1 Ra? That’s how we defined how much a Ra was!"

That wasn’t at all what I had, but along with [Child of Earth], which my parents hadn’t asked about yet, it seemed like there was a strong influence on how my system was displaying for me vs everyone else. Stay calm, stay undercover, genie stays in the bottle. I should really consider taking that [Acting] skill. A shame there wasn’t a [Deception] skill, but that was probably a social skill, and I seemed to be allergic to those. So, I nodded, doing my best impression of a worldly sage. I got more strange looks, but I doubted they would investigate more.

"Good! Come closer, and try again!"

[Laborer]

was mom’s result.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 2!]

I leveled up! "Hurray! Leveled up! If levels are this easy, I’m going to get level 200 in [Identify] by lunch!"

Mom and dad laughed a pure, tinkling laugh. "The first levels are easy; the later levels are hard. You’re also capped by your highest class’s level. You got [Child of Remus] right? What level?"

I froze in the spotlight, guilt written large on my face. They noticed my discomfort, given that my poker face was basically a freshly-cleaned, well-polished window, and got excited.

"Ooooh! Did you get [Child of Pallos]?" Mom swooped in and hugged me.

More frozen face. Think. THINK! I was so petrified; I couldn’t think. Confused looks on my parent’s face – what else was there beside [Child of Pallos] and [Child of Remus]? Time to come clean I guess, and see what the fallout was.

"I got… [Child of Earth]" I winced, waiting for the inevitable incrimination, the temple vivisectionists coming to get me.

"Oh my! You’re beloved by the earth element! That’s wonderful!" Dad picked me up and twirled me around. "You’ve GOT to get an Earth class next! I assume [Child of Earth] is earth-aligned? It must be."

Earth. Earth. By the sweet spines of Etalix, I WAS SAVED! Saved by the overlap on words! Saved by a complete lack of imagination from whoever named planet Earth! I wasn’t going to correct dad on this, I nodded furiously. "For some reason, it’s a Wood affinity though. But three free stats a level!" I hastily added in, hoping to distract from the Wood part.

"Fantastic! Wonderful! What level did you get? Early levels are all so white, it’s really hard to tell individual levels apart."

"Level 8! Right to the top!"

"Whoa Elaine, careful! Don’t class up before getting your general skills and training them a bit! You get better classes with better skills! On that note, I’d like you to get [Knives] and [Cleaning]." Bleh. Cleaning. I was hoping to avoid that. Although – I had so many chore-related skills, maybe I’d be allowed this as a catch-all. I decided to take a look at the skills I was being asked to take.

[Knives – You have a floundering love of knives. This skill will make it a little easier to wield knives. Increased proficiency and handling per level. Mana Regen -2 when using a knife.]

[Cleaning – You’ve been reluctantly gang-pressed into cleaning everything around you, and have achieved a small mastery of it. Increased ability to spot messes and clean them up per level. 2 Mana per minute when in-use]

Ah well. I focused on the skills, and was rewarded with seeing them slot into my general skills. Three down, two I didn’t mind.

"Ok Elainus, now shoo. We need to have some girl talk." Mom shooed dad out the door.

Chapter 10

GIRL TALK

Mom smiled at me, a warm, happy smile. "Elaine. You’re now old enough to know some girl secrets." Oh no. Was I about to get the birds and the bees talk? Please no. Please spare me.

"I have no chore-related skills, although some of my skills can be used for chores. Most women don’t have chore-related skills, although something like a [Tailor] class is pretty common. We spend all day doing chores – Aster knows I’d love your dad to pitch in more – we don’t need any skills to help us with it. Feel free to get rid of the [Cleaning] skill – dad just asked you to get it as a favor to me. But shhhh! Don’t tell him that you’ve gotten rid of it." Mom put a finger over her mouth and conspiratorially winked at me.

"You saw the other day that life isn’t that nice here in the Republic for women. It’s shitty. It’s terrible. But there’s nothing me or you can do about it. Men have the money. Men have the power. Men make the rules. We’re not allowed to own property, inherit, or become citizens. So, we do the best we can with the knucklebones we’ve been given. One of those bones is we’re pretty free to pick our skills. Men get lots of skills to help with their profession, but we’re not seen as good enough to be potters or cobblers. We’re just expected to stay home, and support our husbands." A bitter look crossed mom’s face. Whoa. Where was all of this coming from? Mom, a staunch feminist? From everything I had seen so far, it seemed like she had completely bought into the system. That illusion was rapidly being pulled away from me.

It wasn’t like I was an unrepentant troublemaker who caused chaos at every opportunity. Not like how Lyra was.

"What we can do though, is pick our skills. We can work together. We can support each other. We all have some influence over our husbands. Some more than others. Senator Saturio, for example, is mostly just a figurehead for his wife, Venus, who holds all of the real power. The shame is, as amazing of a woman that she is, she’s not allowed to be the Senator. It has to be Saturio. And if they ever got in a real fight, Saturio would still win."

My flycatcher was rapidly expanding in size, my lower jaw about to become intimately familiar with the ground.

"That’s why I was putting such a strong emphasis on social skills for you. The only real power you’re going to have, the only way you’ll be able to navigate through society, is with social skills, with interacting with others, with keeping your head down and making the small changes and influences that you can. Otherwise the Republic will eat you up and spit you out again, and I don’t want to see that happen to you, my sweet baby girl." She reached out with a single delicate finger, closing my jaw. My muscles didn’t engage as she released her finger, jaw dropping right back open.

"First off, you should take [Vigilant]. You’ve never been all that social, and with your social graces, I suspect you’re going to run into problems. I’m going to make sure you can see them coming. Second, you seem to like helping me out when I’m healing someone, right?"

Healing Lyra had unlocked new feelings and emotions. I wanted to be a healer like mom. I wanted to make people better, to see their happy faces. I wanted to use that little bit of extra knowledge I had. I nodded briskly. Yeah, I could happily make this my choice.

"Then take [First Aid] and [Anatomy] as well. Chores are easy, medicine is hard – let’s get you some skills in it. It will help you select your first class, if we decide on you taking [Healer]." I nodded, then realized.

[Vigilant: You’re constantly on guard for trouble, aware of your surroundings at all times. Increased perception and awareness per level. -3 Mana Regeneration.]

[First Aid: You’ve responded to injuries soon after they’ve occurred, and patched people up. Increased knowledge and dexterity when responding to injuries. -3 Mana Regeneration when in-use.]

[Anatomy: You have fantastic knowledge of the human body, but it’s surface-level. Increased knowledge and learning of Anatomy per level. -4 Mana Regeneration.]

"Hey wait, that’s three skills? Weren’t you only supposed to do two?"

Mom gave me a Look. Ack, talking back was going to get me killed one day. No spoon though.

"One, we’re getting rid of [Cleaning]. That gives me an extra slot to work with. Two, I could dictate everything you pick. Three, you wanted [First Aid]. So no more back-talk from you." I sheepishly nodded my head. Aye-Aye captain. Your wish is my command.

"So now let’s work on the three skills you pick for yourself. Two questions to ask yourself. First: Does anything really call to you? Does anything speak to you, speak to your soul? Second: What do you want to do with yourself? How do you see yourself going through life? If you’re not sure, that’s OK. It’s a lot to ask of you. You can stay without classing up for a while if you’d like while you work it out. You can also drop skills and pick up new ones, but that resets everything back to one."

Ooof, that was heavy stuff. No wonder I wasn’t told much before today, but at the same time, I should’ve been given time to think about this.

[Running] spoke to me. I loved the movement, the freedom it brought, the wind in my hair. There was clearly a demand for it, the courier showed, and maybe there was room for a discreet woman running packages and messages around for wealthy women, or someone like Senator Saturio’s wife. There was potential there.

[Running – You love the feel of motion and movement, wind wrapped around you. Increased speed per level while running. Costs 3 Mana per minute in-use.]

At the end of the day though, there was just a pure love for running and movement. What was life without things to do that you enjoyed? There was a call to [Running], and I decided I would be taking it.

[Pretty] caught my eye, and I remembered some of the advice given. Given a choice, a chance to easily be better-looking through magical means, and the freedom to do so, who wouldn’t want something similar? From my earlier conversations, it seemed like this was a fairly normal skill to pick, and mom had made no comments on it. Screw it. I wanted to be [Pretty].

I could grab [Clean Wounds] or [Bandaging], but I suspected it wouldn’t do much for me. Reviewing my list of options, something caught my eye I had missed last time. [Learning]. Education was the most powerful force I knew of, and while I hadn’t thought much of my past life recently, I remember a burning drive to KNOW, to learn things. That was why I wanted to learn how to read so badly. That was why I was disappointed to see no [Reading] skill. What did [Learning] do?

[Learning: You have a passion, a drive for knowing more. You constantly seek out new knowledge, and have acquired considerable amounts of it. Easier to learn new ideas. Easier to learn new skills. Each level comes with a 1% increase in exp for all other skills and classes. -5 Mana Regeneration]

That sounded both useful and useless. Useless in that it didn’t do anything directly. It didn’t even impact other skills directly! The indirect effects, with everything else becoming more powerful – that sounded good. I focused on all of the skills, and was rewarded with a flurry of notifications.

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve learned [Pretty] – level 1!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve learned [Vigilant] – level 1!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve learned [First Aid] – level 1!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve learned [Running] – level 1!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve learned [Anatomy] – level 1!]

[*Error* You’ve lost the skill [Cleaning]]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve learned [Learning] – level 1!]

"Now remember Elaine, your stats and skills are secret. We’ll do our best to help you out, but dad thinks you have [Cleaning] when you don’t, so make sure you don’t run your mouth about it."

Layers and layers of secrets, sheesh. At this rate I was going to get a ski-

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Passive skill [Secrets]!]

[Alert: You already have 8 general skills. Remove a skill for [Secrets]?]

Did… did the System just pluck what I was thinking out of my head, and respond with a skill? Was I just sassed by the System? Could I just will myself to get other skills? I declined to pick up [Secrets], opened my stats and reviewed after all my changes:

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 8]

[Mana (Regeneration)] 20/20 (8)

[Class 1: [Child of Earth] +]

[Class skills not available for initial Classes]

[Class 2: Locked]

[Class 3: Locked]

General Skills:

Active - [Identify] – Lv 2

Active - [Knives] – Lv 1

Passive - [Pretty] – Lv 1

Passive - [Vigilant] – Lv 1

Active - [First Aid] – Lv 1

Passive - [Anatomy] – Lv 1

Active - [Running] – Lv 1

Passive - [Learning] – Lv 1

Stats:

[Free Stats: 32]

[Strength: 4]

[Dexterity: 6]

[Vitality: 3]

[Speed: 4]

[Mana: 2]

[Mana Regeneration: 2]

[Magic Power: 2]

[Magic Control: 10]

I focused hard on learning [Fireball].

Silence.

Guess it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Chapter 11

SHADOWING GUARDS

We called dad back, and filled him in on some of the skills I picked up.

"So, does that mean you don’t want to come and get more skills with me?" Dad asked.

Shoot, the promise! He was going to take me around and help me pick up skills! There were useful things I could get! Better yet, it would get me out of chores for a day or maybe even two! Also, who knew, maybe I would find a skill that I wanted, and could replace another skill with it. All in all, I saw no problems with this.

"Yeah! More skills, more skills!" I replied, jumping up and down.

"Alright, give me a moment to gear up, and we will get going." A few minutes of dad getting into guard leathers, guard colors, and grabbing his baton, and we were off to the guard station.

Once inside, we stopped by the desk of a grizzled looking guardsman, who had both the look of being in the business too long, and not enough patience to play the political game needed to be The Boss.

"Guardsman Elainus, who’s this?" he asked. I hadn’t seen any tobacco products on Pallos so far, but his voice screamed smoker.

"My daughter, Captain Marcus." Dad never talked that formally. "I’m taking her with me on patrol today, so she can try and pick up some skills."

"Just unlocked?"

"Earlier this morning."

He grunted in agreement. "You’re with Guardsman Catonus today. Get rid of wind weasels whenever you see one. We’re getting a lot of complaints."

Dad saluted, fist over heart, and headed deeper in. He picked up a pouch – "Standard for guards on patrol", then we picked up Catonus, a greasy-looking older guard, and headed out. I didn’t like him. I looked around once we were back out, and almost jumped out of my skin as I got a notification.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 2!]

Well, ok then. Catonus smirked, and asked dad. "Do we really need to bring her along? She’s just going to get in our way and cause problems. Look, she’s even still jumping from system notifications!"

Dad put his hand protectively on my head, and gave Catonus a mean stink-eye. Nothing more was said on the matter.

We twisted and turned, heading deeper into the city. I was completely lost for a while, and finally re-oriented myself as we went over the north market bridge to the temple again. Oooh, the far side of town! We went north after going over the bridge, and the omnipresent smell of the sea became that much stronger.

We slowed down after a while, and the two guards started stopping and chatting with everyone as they went around. Everyone seemed to know Dad and Catonus, and they seemed to know everyone here. This was a craftsman district, with heat and fumes and yelling, as opposed to the quieter, more mercantile district where we lived. We slowed down as we neared a smithy.

"Hey Bakus! How’s business?" Dad cried out.

"Elainus! It’d be better if you bought something one of these days!" A giant of a man I assumed was Bakus roared out. "Why don’t you get something for your pretty little kid?"

I was offended. Dad got me lots of nice things! "He got me a sharp knife the other day! Made of STEEL! Clearly you’re not good enough if he’s buying nice stuff like that somewhere else! Bleeeeeh!" I fiercely defended dad.

Bakus looked stunned for a moment, then roared with laughter. "HA! I like her! But I’m no pig-headed [Blacksmith] Elaine, I’m a [Coppersmith]!" I turned the corner to get a better look of his store. There was still an anvil, a furnace, and a bunch of other things I didn’t know that I assumed were the normal trappings of a blacksmith. However, instead of spears and horseshoes, there were delicate copper wires and necklaces, hoops and earrings. Lyra would love this! I wanted.

"Hey dad," I started, tugging on his sleeve, whipping out ye olde doe-eyes. "Bakus might have a point about buying something. Like that necklace." That just made Bakus roar with laughter, as dad demonstrated that face-palming was universal.

[Coppersmith] sounded pretty interesting. I wasn’t too keen on blacksmithing – the idea of breathing in fumes all day just to make swords and shields didn’t appeal in the slightest – but making jewelry? Hello. Tell me more. I had a brief vision of myself decked out in piles of copper necklaces and bracelets, with long, elaborate earrings.

[Pretty] told me that might not be the best idea.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 2!]

I jumped again. And was telling me with quite some vigor, wow. I eyed the skill, slightly betrayed. Maybe if it was [Glamorous] or something it’d be ok with my copper bonanza idea.

"Wow, just unlocked huh?" Bakus observed.

Hang on, skills! I had them! Let me try on Bakus and Catonus! [Identify]! [Identify]!

[Craftsman]

[Warrior]

I was a hair surprised that Bakus was such a deep red compared to everyone else I had seen. I looked at him with new respect – he was good. My eyes widened. That’s why my parents wanted me to have [Identify] – I could easily tell who was good at what they did, and who wasn’t! Sure, level probably wasn’t everything, but it would at least tell me who was experienced at stuff. Well, if they made their main job their class. My ears were doing their best steam vent impression again – I was going to hold this off until another day.

I was rudely brought out of my musings by dad knuckling me on the head. Owe owe owe what was that for?

"Pay attention Elaine. You’re here as a treat, take it seriously."

Oh right. Learning skills. Learning skills from someone experienced! Whoa, this was a real treat – no matter how good the temple’s stations were, they couldn’t hold a handle to learning directly from a master.

Dad. I forgive every mean thought I’d ever had about you. You were the BEST.

Clearly, dad and Bakus had been talking while I was in dreamland.

"Alright little miss, take this hammer here, and tap on that lump of copper over there. It’s scrap I need to deal with later, so don’t worry about breaking anything."

The tiniest hammer was brought down from a wall, almost the size of Bakus’s finger. It looked absurd in his hand. I picked it up, and started whaling on the copper scraps in the back with all my might. Dink! Dink! Dink!

Nothing happened.

I looked at Bakus confused, and he gave me an encouraging nod. His other apprentices stopped to watch what was happening with the ankle biter suddenly in their workspace. "Focus an image in your mind, imagine the metal becoming something!" one of the apprentices called out. "Bah, she’s just a girl, girls can’t handle copper" a quieter voice from the back said. Gods, this nonsense again. It was frankly discouraging. Sure, I wasn’t likely to ever end up as a coppersmith. But that was no reason to say shit! I grabbed the hammer, and went at it again, imagining a hammer to break jackass’s fingers.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Coppersmithing]!]

[Coppersmithing: You’ve spent time in the forge, learning how to bend and shape copper to your will. For good reasons or bad. With this skill, the next time you work copper, it’ll be a little bit easier. Increased knowledge, strength, and dexterity per level when working copper. -8 Mana per minute when active]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 2!]

Fist holding tiny hammer pumped in triumph, victory!

We said our thanks and left, onwards to new adventures, learning new things! However, I found it hard to enjoy myself. What that prick of an apprentice said soured the entire experience for me.

Dad was the absolute best, as we worked our way through the craftsman district. [Carpentry]. [Tanning]. [Fishing] and [Knots] at the docks. The dye master shooed dad off when he asked – apparently making nice with the local guardsman wasn’t nearly as important as keeping the monopoly on dyes – but I also picked up [Tailoring] and [Pottery]. I saw some really beautiful women hanging out near the docks, but dad flat-out REFUSED to let them teach me anything. They got a good chuckle out of me asking, while asking Catonus if he’d be back later. What on earth was their profession? Clearly it was something a lady could do, and I wanted my own job! [Learning] went up twice more, while [Vigilant] and [Identify] went up another level. Getting these early levels was fun!

It was while I was learning [Coals] that I heard something interesting. I was learning the basics from Kolius, who was a kid just a few years older than me. Of course, with the system and our low ages, that might as well be a mountain in terms of difference. His dad had arranged for him to teach me, hoping he would also get a [Teaching] skill of some sort out of it. All in all, a good arrangement.

"What does your dad do?" he asked.

"He’s a guard! He’s showing me around town as he works as a guard!"

"Oh, that’s so cool!" Kolius said, hero-worship in his voice, stars in his eyes. I suppose being a coal-maker wasn’t nearly as fun or as glamorous as a guard, who got to walk around with weapons! Nobody wanted to be stuck inside with soot and ash all day. Especially not a 10-year-old. "Is he here about Damonus?"

"Damonus? Who’s that?" I had never heard the name before.

"Everyone knows Damonus! He’s the one making all of the wind weasels! They’re such a pain!"

What. The wind weasel infestation wasn’t natural? Someone was making monsters here!?

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Coals]!]

I almost completely ignored the notification. Jaded to magic on my first day. "DAD! Come here! You have got to hear this!" I shouted, running outside. Dad and Catonus were outside, talking with various people. Catonus rolled his eyes. "You’ve wasted enough of your dad’s time today. Don’t you think you should let us do our jobs?"

I glared with as much force as I could muster. A muscle on his face twitched, which just made me angrier.

"Peace, Catonus, Elaine. We’ll get back to our normal rounds soon. Elaine, what’s going on?"

"Dad come with me! Kolius says he knows where all of the wind weasels are coming from! He said Damonus is making them!"

Catonus’s and Dad’s faces went from "Friendly but slightly annoyed Guardsman" to "Serious Guardsman". These were the guards that kept the city safe. These were the guards that prevented any serious crime ring from forming. These were the guards that kept Classers in check.

"Kolius. Can you tell me where Damonus is? And how do you know he’s making wind weasels?"

Kolius, in spite of his starry-eyed look towards the guards, rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows Damonus. He’s been making the wind weasels for a while, keeps telling us he’ll sic them on us if we don’t do things for him. It’s why I’ve been spending more time here. He can’t threaten me when I’m working!"

Kolius’s dad interjected. "I had wondered why you had gotten so diligent. I think I need to catch myself a few wind weasels for myself, if they’re so good for discipline." Sounded ominous. Glad I wasn’t Kolius. Hopefully dad wasn’t getting any ideas.

"Do you mind if we borrow Kolius for a few hours?" Catonus asked. "We just want him to point us to the right spot, so we can take a look"

Kolius’s dad just grunted. Seemed to be permission.

Kolius was thrilled to be the hero of the hour, leading the guards to the vicious beast that had prowled for too long. Or, from the description he was giving us, a teenager with a power complex. Catonus rolled his eyes and muttered "Wanna-be Classer." with as much disdain and ‘this is going to create so much paperwork’ that he could mutter. Not that I knew if there even was paperwork, given the lack of paper I had seen. And lack of books. Really the only thing I had seen read was that scroll at the temple. I needed to get permission to enter the library and – oh we made it!

Kolius scurried back off – probably home – as we looked up at the dilapidated building in front of us. There were some wind weasels lurking about, and dad and Catonus drew their batons.

"What do we do with her?" Catonus asked, jerking his head towards me. "She shouldn’t be here. This is why we don’t bring kids along."

Dad frowned as he thought. "It sounds like we’re dealing with a 12 to 15-year-old boy. She should be fine as long as she stands behind us."

Hurray! Excitement! I would be fine, dad would keep me safe, and I would get to see guards doing their guard thing! Rah rah go team guard!

I was expecting some sort of sneakiness, or busting down the door, or some other cool action-packed entrance. Movies betrayed me, as they went up to the door and politely knocked on it. We got a few eyes from people walking up and down the street – guards didn’t usually have their batons out – but generally people seemed to consider it business as usual. Guards knocking on a door probably WAS business as usual I realized.

Something was itching at the back of my head though. I reached up to scratch it, only to realize scratching was doing nothing at all for me – the itchiness I was feeling was inside my head. That was weird, but probably something else system-related that I was unaware of, and would make people laugh at me if I asked. I didn’t like people laughing at me.

The itchy feeling in my head wasn’t going away, and if anything, was getting stronger and more persistent. I looked around, and spotted a wind weasel hiding behind a barrel. And one hiding around a corner. And one peeking over a rooftop. And one glowering at me from under a vendor’s table. And - that was a LOT of wind weasels, and they weren’t attacking or doing their standard "hit and runs" – they were just staring at us. The itchiness in my head reduced as I noticed them, but didn’t go away completely.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 3!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 4!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 5!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 6!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 7!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 8!]

Why on Pallos did Vigilant go up so much? That was a lot of wind weasels. I pulled on dad’s arm and said "Hey dad" right as the door opened. A scrawny looking teenager opened the door, dad said "Not now sweety", and all hell broke loose.

The teenager, who I assumed was Damonus, got a panicked look on his face, yelled "NO!", and slammed the door shut. At the same time, all of the wind weasels that I’d noticed surrounding us started to run towards us, sharp claws out and gusts of wind kicking up leaves and dirt around them. I screamed. I would like to say I screamed something coherent, like "look out" or "Incoming", but no such luck. Fortunately, dad and Catonus seemed to be experienced, and quickly got back-to-back in front of the house as the wind weasels came tumbling in. It was all too quick to follow. Booted feet kicked and stomped; batons flashed with a sickening crunch. Skills were said tersely – it didn’t seem to be a requirement, just good communication between them. "[Guardsman’s Aura]." "[Peacekeeping Operation]." "[Quick Bash]."

[*ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 23)]

[*ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 22)]

……

[*ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 18)]

[*ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 30)]

and I realized a few things to my dismay:

First. Guards were ill-equipped to handle wind weasels. They were tall adults with short batons, and the weasels, while long, were only 4-6 inches tall.

Second. These wind weasels were smart – much smarter than the average pests we saw.

Third. I was completely unprotected and at wind weasel height. Dad and Catonus were back to back, but that didn’t include me!

With only a few left, they suddenly changed target to attack me. I screamed again – no longer the panicked scream from earlier, but the "my life is in mortal danger" scream only a kid can produce.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Cowering]!]

I had no time to pay attention to the notification.

Dad recognized the difference, and yelled "[Protect the Meek]." with two weasels leaping towards me. Impossibly fast, he crouched down, shielded me with one arm, and flashed his baton out with his other. A final, sickening crunch was heard, a sound of slicing meat, a soccer ball being kicked, and a deep roar from right beside me was heard as a hot liquid spray hit me.

I stood there, stunned and shaking, as I processed what just happened. Dad had shielded me, and lashed out with his arm – but there were TWO weasels, not one, and I had heard him getting a solid hit on the first one. The second one dad had blocked with his face, followed shortly by Catonus punting. Hot liquid? That was dad bleeding all over me from the ruined mangle of the left half of his face.

"You ok?" Catonus asked.

"Yeah. Get the prick." Dad said stoically.

There was no more audience – people got out of the way fast when guards started swinging weapons – and clearly the kid gloves were off as Catonus went through the door. My estimation of him went up quite a few notches. More yelling and flashes of light came from the door, but I was too concerned with Dad to notice.

"Dad, Dad, are you ok?" I asked, shaking his arm. He was still sitting down in the middle of the road, holding the side of his face. He groaned miserably.

"Elaine, please tell me mom made you get a medical skill. And that you didn’t get rid of it in your skill spree this morning."

My eyes widened in realization. I had [First Aid] AND [Anatomy]!

"Go into the guardsman pouch. Get me some gauze. And the bottle."

I followed dad’s orders as they came, watching my skills skyrocket as I followed his directions. A hiss of pain left his lips as I applied the bottle of ointment to his face. Couldn’t really see it, that was an egregious amount of blood. Not a lot of cleaning done here, this was a field dressing.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [First Aid] has reached level 3!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [First Aid] has reached level 4!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 3!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [First Aid] has reached level 5!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 4!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 5!]

"Ok sweetie, ok. This will last until I get to the guard’s [Healer]." Dad muffled from behind a head full of bandages, carefully prying himself open a breathing and seeing hole. I was trembling. Why did I come along? Why did I think this would be fun? Why did I not leave and try to find my way back when I realized it would be serious?

Catonus came out, dragging out Damonus. If Damonus had looked like a cow when Catonus went into the building, he was hamburger now. Looking at my dad’s face, I approved.

"Can you get him the buff?" Catonus asked. Buff? "[Guardsman’s Buff]." Dad placed his hand on Damonus’s head and said.

"Why are you buffing him after arresting him?"

Dad just sat back, unwilling to answer. Catonus answered. "[Guardsman’s Buff] is a guard skill that uses all of your mana regeneration to boost your vitality. It’s good at the start of a fight, and for guards in general. However, what’s really cool is that only the caster can turn it off again. For bad people, they won’t regenerate any mana, so they can’t use any skills. It ALSO makes them less likely to die! All good things." Catonus was talking down to me, but I guess he was A) Talking to me now, and B) I was a kid, so no complaining. Catonus put Damonus in cuffs, and we started moving to what I assume was a nearby guard outpost.

"What happens to him now?" I pointed to Damonus.

"Well, he’s going to be fined. Fined quite heavily. Breeding monsters is one thing, attacking guards is quite another. If he can’t pay the fine, which I imagine, he’ll be sold into slavery for a number of years to cover the fine. The bigger the fine, the more years he’ll be a slave."

Slavery was a thing here. It wasn’t like people were permanently slaves – it was usually temporary, and some people even chose to sell themselves into slavery. Got a bunch of money at the start, got fed, housed, and employed for several years. I still had ethical issues with it – owning another person was wrong, no matter how benevolent. There were some fairly nasty aspects to it as well.

We limped over to the guardhouse where Catonus and Damonus promptly vanished, probably to the cells or however jail was used here. A runner got sent out to fetch the guard’s healer from a nearby station.

I was left to stew in my guilt.

Chapter 12

ARTEMIS

About an hour later, a middle-aged man came comfortably jogging up, with a woman hot on his heels. The man was in standard guard leathers, but the woman was in well-used laminar scale armor, a sword on her side and at least a few daggers I could see. She moved with thunder and fury, power and grace. Her nose stood proudly on her strong face, a pale white contrasting with the rest of her weather-beaten face, scars crossing artistically. Pixie-cut blonde hair framed her face, and her shining green eyes had flashes of light behind them, flickering like a distant storm. She was like the radiant descent of a Valkyrie. I now knew exactly how Kolius felt. For all I knew, my eyes had turned into actual stars.

The man was the healer, and while he didn’t say anything about the patchwork job I had done, it did get a raised eyebrow. Hey, I was in a rush ok? This was my first time bandaging up someone in the field, as opposed to in mom’s clinic. Second time bandaging someone up period. I probably should’ve gotten that skill….

"ARTEMIS!? You’re alive!?" Dad perked up a ton. "We thought you were dead!"

The woman put her hands on her hips. "I guess that is you, Elainus, under all of that." Her tone rapidly changed.

"Guardsman Elainus. Standard procedure is NOT to use your head as a shield. As thick as it may be." The woman smirked at dad while the healer started to remove the bandages.

Dad flipped Artemis a one-fingered salute. More universal gestures.

"How are you doing, Artemis?"

"I’m doing much better than YOUR FACE." Artemis was grinning ear-to-ear.

"How is it," Dad was getting a bit of fire back, but it was more like embers, "That you run away from home, doing gods knows what for years, and you somehow manage to find me the ONE DAY I get injured?"

"It’s just your bad luck. Who’s this? Your daughter? You must have married Julia then?"

"Yes, and yes. Elaine, meet Artemis. Artemis, meet Elaine. Artemis is an old friend of mine; we grew up together. This is Elaine, my daughter. She just unlocked today, and finished picking up her initial skills. What have you been up to Artemis? You ran away, and when we didn’t hear back from you for a few years, we all thought you had died!"

"Oh, I was out and about, here and there." Artemis flipped her hair back. "Joined up with the Rangers. Standard stuff."

There was a reason "Ranger vs Bandits" was one of the most popular games kids played. Rangers were elite soldiers of the Republic, traveling around the Republic in teams solving problems locals couldn’t. Strong monsters, cunning bandits, rogue Classers – Rangers solved them all. They were a bit like state-sponsored adventurers, not that there were any of those commonly floating around. Needless to say, becoming a Ranger wasn’t standard.

I was still staring at Artemis, a burning question in my mind. It was stupid. It was wrong, given what dad had just said. I needed to check. I needed to know.

"Are you a goddess?"

Artemis looked like she’d been poleaxed, before falling down and rolling on the ground laughing. Dad facepalmed, then made a small pained noise as he naturally hit his face. The healer looked at us disapprovingly, and sniffed.

"Guardsman. It’s hard enough treating you without you self-inflicting additional injuries. Please refrain." Stuffy healer.

Artemis finally recovered, as I continued to wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I knew asking was a bad idea, why did I do it?

"I’m not a goddess. But quite a few people seem to treat me like one!" Artemis picked herself off the ground, and puffed out her chest for dramatic effect. I melted.

"Hey Artemis." Dad asked, livelier as clearly some magic was occurring with the healer and him. "Elaine’s always been really interested in magic. You’re a decently powerful mage. Can you give her the rundown? The temple’s education is terrible, as you well know."

I used [Identify] on Artemis, and got back [Mage].

"A MAGE!?" I shrieked, not particularly coherently. They were rare! I didn’t know any. Dreams of flying through the sky, throwing out fireballs once again danced through my head. Right here, in front of me, the avatar of that dream. I had imagined beautiful witch robes, not scale armor, but I would live. After all, the robes could always go OVER the armor.

"Can you fly? Can you shoot fireballs? Can you teleport? Do you have a tower? Do you have a familiar? Can you raise undead creatures? Why the sword if you can cast magic?"

I knew of course that everyone’s "magic" was just their skill with the system. There was some difference though, between the day-to-day skills being used, and someone considered an actual honest-to-goodness MAGE though.

Artemis chuckled and got a far-off look in her eyes, before snapping back to me. ME. I couldn’t look her in the eye, I was too overwhelmed.

"Hey, [Grand Mage]-To-Be. If you can’t look at me, how will you ever cast a [Searing Sun] or a [Lightning Bolt]?"

I froze. She was right. Courage Elaine, courage!

Courage.exe has failed to load. Damnit. I felt a finger under my chin, lifting my head up, meeting Artemis’s shit-eating grin.

"You remind me of your dad when we were kids." She said. I had trouble imagining that. "To answer your questions: technically, barely, but it takes a TON of mana, not really, nope, only by a long stretch of imagination, what’s that?, dead bodies are terrible material, and why not swords? You won’t always have mana, you won’t always need to cast a spell, and the added versatility is priceless. No sense in using magic to kill a goblin when a sword will do the trick."

This wasn’t going nearly as well as I had hoped. Bad flying? No fireballs? The question about wizard towers wasn’t a DIRECT no, but I had no hopes that "long stretch of the imagination" would result in anything close to a wizard tower. My face fell.

"Sooo…. What kind of magic can you do then…?" I was skeptical. Artemis had denied a long, interesting list of magics, and I was preparing myself to be massively disappointed as to what a [Mage] could actually do.

That terrible grin was back, a mad sparkle in her eyes, and a sense of dread came over me. This was either going to be really cool or not end well for me. I didn’t think Artemis would hurt her friend’s kid, but Lyra and I had gotten into enough mischief that I knew the look of Trouble on Artemis’s face. Even if women were allowed in the guard, I strongly suspected Artemis would never make it. Hang on – women were clearly allowed to be Rangers – I needed to know more.

"I’m a power-based Lightning and Earth mage. No idea what you’ve been told so far, but elemental affiliations are important for mages." A small rock was magically levitated off the ground, and started to rotate around Artemis, fast. Faster and faster it went, the rock becoming harder to see as a lethal whizzing noise filled the room.

I could only imagine what a rock going at that speed could do to someone, and my impressed levels were rapidly rising as I realized this was a demonstration.

Dad seemed to realize what was about to happen. He tried to stop her. He really did.

"ARTEMIS!! NOT HE-" I don’t think anything short of the sun falling out of the sky could’ve stopped Artemis at this point, as she pointed to one of the pillars in the guard’s outpost.

She didn’t even say anything. The lethal blur moved, and the pillar exploded. I ducked as sharp shards of stone went everywhere, and somehow not a single one touched me. Or dad. Or the healer whose name I had yet to catch. Everyone was glaring at Artemis, as more guards hurried into the room to see what had happened. Artemis, unflappable, seemingly cheered by the mayhem and destruction she had caused

"Artemis. Please. I can’t feel half my face. If I tried to arrest you, I’d lose feeling in the other half."

Artemis looked guilty at that. "Sorry, sorry, my bad, let me fix this really fast." She said, and simply tapped her foot. With that, a smooth pillar of earth moved out of the ground, seamlessly merging the floor and the ceiling. It was obviously magically made – no stone was that perfect, that smooth, or had that look of putty – but it worked, and everyone seemed happy. Except one person with a broom, who had the look of ‘I just swept here, why me?’. Even Catonus was back and looking happy, while Damonus was still chained and looking pale.

"That," Catonus told Damonus, roughing him up a bit. "is a real Classer."

My heroine.

Chapter 13

LESSONS ON MAGIC

With much muttering and grumbling, the guards left us again. Artemis somehow found herself a chair, swiveled it around, and sat on it backwards, looking at me.

"You must desperately want to be a mage. Most kids get scared off after that demonstration." Artemis started. She paused a moment or two, collecting her thoughts.

"Fine. Magic breakdown time. First off, I don’t know much about healing, you’ll have to ask him," she jerked her thumb at the still-nameless healer treating dad. "but for the rest of it, here’s the basics. First, mages are broadly categorized into ‘power’ or ‘control’, based on, you guessed it, if power or control is their primary focus. Corresponding to that, high mana goes with high power, and control mages tend to focus on regeneration. Onto elements, the basics:"

"Fire are flames and burning and heat. They’re almost always power-focused, since power lets you keep skills coherent further away from you. A control-based mage can really only handle stuff near herself. It’s not great though, because Fire lacks a lot of stopping power. Roasting someone doesn’t kill them the same way a rock through the head will."

"Water is versatile. It’s the jack of all trades. It can do a bit of everything, but none of those things super well. I think there’s minor healing in it, and someone who can conjure water up is priceless in the wilderness. Like water itself, you have to be flexible with it. If you get enough power, you can straight-up drown somebody, but that takes time. Not the best in my opinion."

The healer helping dad made a strangled noise at this. No bets what his affiliation was.

"Light is useless for a mage. It’s the primary element of healers, and it’s got a bunch of secondary uses – mostly making light – but it doesn’t hurt anyone. Can’t stop a rampaging bear by blinding it." She paused a moment.

"Dark is nasty. It’s destruction and removal. Some mage throws a [Dark Blast] at you, you duck. It has a blessedly short range. Apparently, this is also used by healers, but I have no idea what for."

"Wood is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s great for skills, and you can do some really powerful stuff with it, but it lacks some of the oomph that other affiliations can give you. It also has some powerful secondaries. It’s a bit of a risk going down a Wood-mage path, but it can pay off in the long run." Artemis paused. "If you survive."

That wasn’t ominous at all.

"Metal and Earth are ridiculously powerful for mages, and they act in a similar way. As you saw earlier, a rock going fast enough can and will destroy most everything, and you don’t need to continue focusing on the skill once it’s launched. Earth and Metal [War Mages] form the backbone of our oh-so-glorious legions." Artemis rolled her eyes at this last part. Strange that she wasn’t a fan of the army in spite of being IN the army.

"Lastly, there’s Wind. It’s one of the weaker elements, like Light. It can be nasty close-up, but Dark mages are stronger. They’ve got some minor utility, but Wind tends to be a mana hog for the effect. However, I've been surprised by one before." Artemis grimaced. There was a story there for sure!

The healer was no longer working with dad, instead they were deep in an intense conversation. Dad looked crushed.

"Why not be both power and control?"

Artemis gave me a look like I had asked the stupidest question. Maybe I had.

"You can be mixed, but instead of getting the strengths of both power and control, you get the weakness of both without the corresponding strengths. You end up not being long range, not having the oomph, and not having the devastation at shorter ranges. You do get to be flexible, and there’s some merit to that. You can try to do both, but generally end up dead sooner rather than later."

I thought about that some. Flexibility sounded pretty good, even if it wasn’t min-maxing a particular trait. Artemis seemed to think differently, and she was the battle-hardened [Mage]. She probably had good reasons backing her thinking.

"What about Lightning? And Verdant?"

"Lightning and Verdant aren’t primary elements, they’re secondary. They’re advanced, or evolved, or merged elements. Whatever."

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 6!]

I wanted to learn everything in the world if it was this easy to level up [Learning]. I just needed access to books – or scrolls, as it seemed to be, still hadn’t seen a single book – and I could get [Learning] to a super high level!

"Lightning however lets me shoot lightning bolts, let me show y – "

"DON’T YOU DARE" roared dad, the healer, Catonus, and another guard who was passing by. The sheer force of the yell made me wince and cover my ears, and seemed to punch through and get to Artemis, as she looked contrite.

Dad and the healer seemed to have finished up, and the healer decided that an ounce of prevention was worth several pounds of lightning-struck locals, so he wandered over, grousing at Artemis.

"Muscle heads! All of you army folks are muscle heads! And filling her head with incomplete knowledge, which is WORSE than no knowledge at all!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "All you know how to do is blow things up! You’ll lead her down a terrible path, we don’t need people BLOWING THINGS UP IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN." That last bit seemed really pointed at Artemis, and I couldn’t blame him – Artemis was the type. Artemis just laughed it off. Not a shred of guilt there, nope. Almost seemed happy about the whole thing. Notes, I needed to take notes. Notes on magic. Notes on how to be a badass.

"Healing magics are much more important than destruction. Any idiot can kill someone else; it takes skill and talent to heal someone. You need education and knowledge to properly know how to heal, not just throw a stone at someone. Listen Elaine, let me tell you about healing elements, don’t follow after Artemis." I nearly dismissed everything he had to say at that point, almost zoning out entirely. My idea of becoming a healer like mom though wasn’t dead, and I hadn’t gotten anything like this knowledge from her, so I decided to listen.

"Light magic is what most people think of when they hear ‘healer’. It speeds up healing speeds, can invigorate and energize others, and at really high levels, can even restore lost limbs. It’s how you add to the four humors to bring them back into balance."

"Darkness is the other side of the coin to light. Instead of restoring, it destroys. It can destroy poisons, remove rotted limbs, and when a humor is too far out of balance or someone has too much blood, it can destroy or remove it."

I frowned at this. Medical knowledge here was awful, and if education and knowledge really were that critical to working healing magic, and they were this wrong about it… there were implications there that I couldn’t quite work out.

"There’s a lot of debate on if Wood should be considered a healing element or not." The healer continued to pontificate. "I personally consider it valid, if a bit unusual, as a healing element." He continued to drone on a bit, diving into the history of the argument, and the cases for and against it being considered a healing element. My eyes wandered, and met Artemis’s, a bolt of lightning going across her eyes. She grinned at me, that same maniacal grin she always had, and I tried to mimic her.

Artemis rudely interrupted the healer with "Hey! Maybe you should TELL HER what’s so good about Wood, instead of telling her the debate about it. You lost her three sentences after you started!"

Healer had the good graces to look embarrassed, coughed, and got back on track.

"Ahem, yes, well, Wood is great for dealing with and making medicines and potions. Some are good for boosting how quickly you heal, some can neutralize poisons, others can balance humors. The element itself, directly applied, can also revitalize a person. It does the same as direct healing, but it’s indirect, so argued over."

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 5!]

Why did that level up? Was it just thinking about how humans actually worked, and not the humor BS that he was spouting?

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 7!]

"Lastly, there’s water, the best healing element." Artemis rolled her eyes at this. "While not as directly powerful as any of the healing elements, it’s flexible, able to mimic and perform like all of them. That clearly makes it the best element for healing."

Artemis cut in. "You should also mention it’s horribly inefficient at all of those."

"But it’s an efficient use of class elements, of which we only get two."

"You can always dual-class as a healer, like you dual-class anything else."

"There are REASONS healers don’t dual-class! It’s absurd! Why, - "I tuned out their bickering and walked over to dad.

"Soooo," I said, drawing it out, feeling guilty that he got hurt over me. "please don’t tell mom?" I was in so much trouble when we got home if dad ratted me out. "I’ll do the cleaning and make your favorite food and oil your leathers and do anything else you want just don’t tell mom please!" I hit him with my best puppy dog eyes, 100% guaranteed to melt a parent’s heart.

"Elaine" Dad’s voice was heavy. Uh oh. There was no WAY I was going to avoid mom’s wrath. No delicious dinner for me. "We’re not completely sure yet, but it seems like I’ve lost the eye. I have to tell mom."

I must have something in my ears. It sounded like dad just said he lost an eye. That was impossible, dad was invincible, it was just a lousy pest.

"Hey dad, can you say that again? It sounded like you said you lost an eye, ha-ha. That’d be terrible if that happened." I tittered nervously, horror starting to creep up on me.

"Yeah Elaine. You heard me right – my left eye doesn’t work anymore. The wind weasel nearly cut it in half. The healer doesn’t think he can fix it. It’s ok though, I don’t need two eyes to be a guard."

Bloody USELESS healer. ‘Oh, look at me, I’m a water healer, I can’t fix shit’. Bah. I should rip his eyes out, replace dad’s with them. At least he would USE them. Hang on, with magic, was it even possible to replace an eye like that? What did I remember about eyes… there was a lens, the eyeball itself, an optic nerve connecting the eye to the brain. There was a lot more, but I just didn’t know it.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 6!]

That confirmed it, mentally reviewing anatomy knowledge would get me levels in [Anatomy]. That was useful, I needed to file that away for later. Wait, he mentioned something about light magic being able to restore lost limbs?

I ran over and interrupted Artemis’s and the healer’s heated argument. "Healer healer healer." I said, tugging on his arm. I murdered the embarrassment I had for not knowing his name and acting like a little kid in front of Artemis with a burning desire to fix dad. "Do you know a light mage that can fix dad’s eye?"

He looked at me, and the look on his face told me everything. "A strong control-based light healer might – MIGHT – be able to fix your dad’s eye. He’d need a very high control level, and quite a bit of knowledge. He’d be expensive, and there’s nobody in Aquiliea that I know of that can do it. I’m sorry, it’s not your fault." Almost as an afterthought "My name is Meditacus, not ‘healer.’" Ahh, snooty was back.

"You’re USELESS" I cried out, flailing with my little fists. He just looked sad; he didn’t even have the good grace to look like I was doing anything. My feelings of hope, the idea that dad’s eye could be restored like that was gone. I broke down crying as the enormity of what I had caused to happen washed over me. As I was bawling my eyes out, dad came over to comfort me.

"Shhhhh it’s ok… it wasn’t your fault… I’ll be fine… you won’t get in trouble with mom… maybe you’ll be a light healer and heal me, haha."

That last one caused the biggest lightbulb to go off in my head. I hadn’t yet selected a class! I had been yo-yoing between "Grand Archmage" and "Death-defying healer", with mom pulling me towards the healer, and my dreams and the recent arrival of the all-powerful Artemis drawing me towards ‘pew pew mage’. Meditacus was right in a way, as snobbish and annoying as he was. It was much harder, and much rarer to be a healer than a mage. Destruction was easy. Creation was hard. And I was already on my way to being a healer, with [First-Aid] and [Anatomy] already. I didn’t even know the starter skills for being a [Mage]! I cheered up immensely at this. Although I should hedge my bets. My mood changed like a light switch, from miserable, to happy, and straight to curious.

"Hey Artemis, what skill did you need to get a mage class?"

If Artemis was surprised by my sudden emotional swings, she showed no sign.

"[Meditate]" she replied, getting up and walking over.

"Meditate?" I skeptically asked. I wasn’t about to call Artemis a liar, but I was trying and completely failing to imagine the energetic Artemis sitting calmly and meditating.

However! I’d been offered that skill!

"Yup. Hey Elainus, any chance your lovely wife would be up to feeding another mouth? I’m sick and tired of army rations and wilderness ‘delights’." Her tone made it clear that whatever wilderness delights were, delightful they weren’t. "Plus," she waggled her eyebrows, "I’ll totally distract Julia from your missing eye. We can say it’s a new skill of yours – lose a body part, get an old friend for dinner!"

"It might distract her a bit, and give her another direction to vent in… fine, you’re in." Dad mused.

"Elainus." A gruff looking senior guardsman poked his head in. "Meditacus told me about your eye. Don’t worry about your job, we need as many guardsmen like you as possible. Take the next week off, then you’re up for combat practice. You need to get up to speed on fighting with one eye and a blind spot. Polyphemus will be training you."

The guardsman vanished almost as fast as he had shown up. Efficient! And dad’s job was going to be ok, hurray for not starving! I hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility until just now, and stress came crashing through me, with relief just a bare moment away. What on Pallos would we have done if dad wasn’t a guard? I shivered. I had almost cost our family everything. No more dangerous outings like this.

Chapter 14

DECISIONS I

We wandered back as Artemis and Dad caught up.

"So, how’d you end up here? I thought you’d live in Cow’s Crossing with Julia until the day you two died."

"Well, it all started when Dodranus came back from the woods, yelling about…"

Artemis and dad were going at a good clip down the main roads, while I was struggling with the grey zone obstacle course. I was tempted to put a few points into speed and dexterity to give me a boost, but no, I needed to save them, I should be flexible. I had been able to get some stat points through my own effort, and I guessed, but I wasn’t sure, that the higher they were, the harder it would be to get more naturally. I climbed up a barrel, jumped onto a crate, and slid down a hanging rope as fast as I could, doing my best to keep up with dad and Artemis as they blazed forward. I didn’t usually push myself so hard, and today I was rewarded.

[*ding! * You have gained +1 Dexterity]

Oooh, it’d been awhile since I got a stat point naturally like this! Pushing myself was doing good things for me! Although dad and Artemis were getting away. There was a blessedly clear stretch of road in front of me, just a few people on it. I started to jog, then to run, putting forth my best effort.

[*ding! * Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 2!]

[*ding! * Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 3!]

Hurray, progress! My mana was dropping for some reason, something that hadn’t really happened before.

[Mana: 4/20]

A woman with her three kids yelled at me as I dodged around her. "HEY! Slow down! Don’t run here!" Whoops. Well, I was just about out of mana anyways, and I had caught up to dad and Artemis, just in time to earn an approving look from Artemis and a death-glare from dad.

"Elaine. I’m a guard. You can’t do that sort of thing in front of me." Dad cuffed me, I tried to duck. Ouch. I rubbed my head, glaring.

"Ah, leave her be. I’d try to get away with using the grey zone as a fast lane if I could."

I got The Look from dad that promised A Talk later on. I was impressed, he managed to get The Look to work with just one eye so fast! The reminder that he had one eye sobered me up from the exhilaration of running so fast.

"Anyways Artemis, to wrap up the story: The local garrison got overrun by the goblins, and we all fled. Elaine here," he turned to me, putting a protective hand on my shoulder, "was born on the road to Aquiliea. We’ve been here ever since."

That explained why I was born out in a field and not in town. It might also explain why I didn’t seem to have grandparents. Seemed to be a bit of a sore subject the one time I brought it up, and I wasn’t going to prod the bear, especially with the amount of trouble I was already in.

We made our way home, and predictably, shit hit the fan.

"ARTEMIS! It’s so lovely to see you again!" Mom hadn’t noticed dad’s eye yet. I slinked in, hoping to stay out of sight.

"JULIA! It’s been way too long!" Artemis aggressively went in for a hug, picking mom up and spinning her around.

"How on earth did you find us? After Cow’s Crossing was ransacked, we thought there was no way we’d ever see you again!"

"Well, I was out and about, murdering the local rampaging wildlife, taking a break in Aquiliea, when I heard that a Guardsman Elainus got injured. I thought to myself ‘Hey, I know a numbskull Elainus who wanted to be a guardsman! This is pretty close to Cow’s Crossing. It’d be just like him to get hurt fighting a wind weasel of all things. I gotta check this out’. Lo and behold, it was Elainus! Using his head as always!"

Mom’s face was doing interesting things. It started off delighted, fell to sad, moved to horror, skipped anger completely, went directly to enraged, then decided that concerned might be the right move.

"Elaine?" My mom asked, far too sweetly. Uh oh. That was the ‘barely repressed rage disguising itself as nice.’ She came over to me and started patting me everywhere, checking if I was hurt with the expert feel of someone who had done it a dozen times. "I just want to make sure, are you completely ok?"

This felt like a trap. I knew it was a trap. Dad had always drilled integrity and honesty into my head though, and so like one possessed, knowing it would lead to my doom, my traitorous mouth opened with a "Yes mom, I’m fine." DAMNIT! There was no reason for her to hold back anym-

My train of thought was derailed as mom gave me a massive hug, practically sobbing. "Thank goodness you’re ok! I was so worried!" Her hug intensified. Artemis had a look of unholy glee on her face. What was I missing? Besides air. I needed air.

"Mom…. Breathing…. Help…" Mom let me go, spun towards dad, and like a skill was used, she was suddenly holding the dread wooden spoon as she walked threateningly towards him.

"Elaine, why don’t you take Artemis to the baths? I’m sure she’d like to rinse off after all that time in the wilderness." She asked oh-too-sweetly, pointing the spoon at dad. Artemis’s face fell at this. Why would she not want to go to the baths? They were lovely.

"But Julia," she whined.

"But nothing Artemis. Unless you want me to share with Elaine that one time when – "

"Hey Elaine, let’s go to the baths!" Artemis practically tripped over her words in an attempt to get them out faster. What was that all about? Well, I was briefly free, so I grabbed my nice birthday knife, attached it to my belt, and was out the door with Artemis as a medium-sized explosion went off behind us. Gotta be cool, walk away from the explosion without looking.

"YOU SAID SHE’D BE PERFECTLY SAFE!" The all-too-familiar noise of wooden spoon on flesh met my ears. Some quiet mutterings – dad defending himself – came to my ears, but I couldn’t make out what was being said.

"I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR EYE! THIS IS ABOUT ELAINE!" The sound of wood attempting to re-arrange bones met my ears.

Artemis looked like she was missing out on the greatest show ever. "Ah well. Come on Elaine, I seem to remember you wanting to be a mage, and I have some errands to take care of. Let’s go."

We started to wander back through town, and when we got to the intersection with the baths, I tried to pull Artemis down it. She rebuffed me though, saying. "First thing I did when I got here was to spend two days soaking in the bath. I’m all set for now."

We talked about magic, and I finally got what really distinguished a mage from someone with really good skills. "A mage has one or both of the following skills: A conjuration, or manipulation. A conjuration skill lets you directly create the element, while a manipulation skill lets you move it freely. Watch!" With that, Artemis’s hair started to rise around like, creating a crown of hair. She started a one-woman lightning show, bolts of lightning curving around her, going from hand to hand. Artemis started dancing with lightning in the street, drawing the gaze of everyone present. Slow sways as lightning danced around her. A fast jig in tune with the lightning. A slower, sensual dance. All that and so much more. I might die again one day. I might properly lose most of my memories then, like I should have. But the sight of Artemis dancing in the street, lightning swirling around her playfully, would never, ever, leave me.

All good things must come to an end, and as fast as lightning Artemis’s jig came to a close. I think I had figured out what the ‘manipulation’ portion of being a mage was.

We continued walking through the streets, although I had no idea where we were going.

Right before we made it there, I realized – we were going to the jail. Why were we going to jail? Artemis introduced herself at the door, showed the guard a badge with an eagle in flight on it, and we were quickly inside. Artemis vanished deeper inside, and came out with Damonus.

Damonus was a sad, quivering mess as Artemis brought him out again. "Alright Elaine, you want to be a mage, right?" "RIGHT!" I responded with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. She knew I wanted to be a mage! This seemed like my chance! I thought I needed meditate and to class up though, why were we in a jail buying a slave? And why did we buy this one specifically?

"Alright, the moment of truth. Elaine. I need you to kill Damonus."

The world fell from around me as I processed what Artemis was saying with horror. I needed to kill Damonus? Why? He was just a young teenager! He was in chains! This wouldn’t be self-defense by any stretch of the imagination, this was cold-blooded murder that Artemis was trying to get me to perform! Was this some sort of test? It seemed like a test. But it was a pretty horrible test, of course I wasn’t going to murder a chained-up kid in cold blood.

"No! Murder’s wrong." Almost as an afterthought "And illegal!" A rancid smell came over me, and I realized that Damonus had pissed himself. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"You want to be a mage, right?"

"RIGHT!" Fireballs and flying! Adventure awaits!

"How do you think most mages get experience?"

That was a bit of a stumper. From what I understood, you got experience by doing things that your class wanted. [Chefs] cooked, [Bakers] made bread, [Fishermen] got fish. So, extending that logic, mages… maged? Cast spells? Casting spells seemed right.

"By… casting spells?" I ventured, much more hesitantly than I felt.

Artemis had a pitying look on her face. "By killing things Elaine. Monsters, animals, monsters in human skin, and sometimes, rarely, sometimes just people. It’s like a [Warrior], or a [Soldier], or a [Ranger]. We kill things. It’s not nice. It’s not pretty. But fighting and killing are the fastest way for most classes to level, even if they’re not combat classes. I bet you got a ton of experience in that fight your dad was in, even if you didn’t do much." I flushed in embarrassment at that memory.

"Please don’t kill me, please, I’m so sorry, I’ll never do it again, please please please." Damonus was begging as hard as he could. I felt my heart soften.

Artemis took a deep breath in pity. "Elaine, he tried to kill you, and he tried to kill your dad. You got lucky. You didn’t end up in the best-case scenario, but you ended up in one of the better scenarios. You’re unhurt. Your dad got injured, but he’s not life-threateningly crippled. Ever wondered why you don’t see beggars? Ever wondered why there are no farmhands that got in the way of a plow? It’s because they either die – quickly if they’re lucky – or they go into debt, then get sold as slaves. The only place that buys crippled slaves is the colosseum. If Elainus had died, or been crippled so badly he couldn’t work, you’d be lucky if this scum here had killed you. Otherwise your family wouldn’t be able to feed themselves and either go further and further into debt to the point where you’re sold off as slaves to recuperate it, or you would have gotten sold off yourself earlier, so they could stretch their money longer, have more money, and/or have one less mouth to feed."

I paled in horror as I processed all of this. Had we really come that close to disaster? All because of him? All because I was tagging along, and dad needed to protect me?

Artemis had no mercy. "Do you know what happens to pretty girls that haven’t gotten a class yet that are sold into slavery? A bit younger, you’d luck out and stay with your mom. Older, and you’d have useful skills that would make you valuable. You’re neither. Too old to stick with mom, too expensive to train in something. What takes little training? Odds are good that you’d get bought by a brothel, or by some rich citizen with disgusting tastes. You’d be forced to take a [Prostitute] class, and by the time your slavery terms were up, you’d have nothing. No family, no money, nothing at all. You’d get trapped working as one, day in, day out, until maybe one day you get lucky, and some greasy soldier decides to marry you. Depends if you had any kids by then or not. Failing that, the colosseum. You’re young, you have no strength or physical stats, it’d be a waste to train you. So, they’d put you in a group of a few other ‘worthless’ slaves, and send you against a single [Gladiator] to show off that he can kill a bunch of people at once. Or some rich brat who’s trying to kill people to level up faster, and cheap slaves are good experience for the cost. That was almost your fate. That’s what this jackass nearly made you."

"So, take up that knife, slit his throat, and show that you have the mettle to be a mage. Show that you can kill the undeserving, that you can kill those who mean to harm you and yours. Show that you can grasp enough power to become independent." I could feel streaks of water going down my face, my arms shaking, hands trembling.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 8!]

What an inopportune level-up. I was busy, I didn’t need the distraction.

I drew my knife, hands trembling madly as I approached Damonus, who was still begging, on his knees. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying, he was crying and pleading and supplicating as hard as he could.

"Please… No… Promise…. Again…" great wailing sobs came from him as he furiously struggled against his chains.

"Isn’t murder illegal?" I asked, suddenly finding a way out. "We should not do illegal things."

Artemis gave me a dirty look which said she knew exactly what I was thinking. "He’s my slave now. I have the power of life and death over him. The same power of life and death that others nearly had over you because of him. Now do it cleanly. I don’t think you’re strong enough to get his heart, located here." Artemis pointed up from his stomach, indicating the angle I would need to take. "You should just slit his throat. Make sure to hit here and here," she continued pointing to the main arteries on the side of his neck, "to make sure he dies quickly. It’ll be messy, but killing people is rarely clean. Do you know how much gore gets everywhere after you put a rock through someone’s head? Takes about two days of scrubbing in the baths to get the smell off."

I looked at him. I looked at the knife, trembling in my hands. Gods it was a thing of beauty. Elegant, glinting in the light. A smooth leather grip, with that Arcanite gleaming with otherworldly power. It was for me. It was for me to peel mangos with, and now it was being used to kill a kid in cold blood. I shook. I was crying as well. I took another step forward. I lifted the knife. I imagined a spray of blood, the light in his eyes going out. I lowered my knife. I saw the stage where slaves were auctioned, but instead of seeing it from the edge of the crowd as we were on our errands, I was on the stage naked. I heard the voice of an announcer, "Next up, we have an 8-year old girl, no class, good health! Sold for 10 years of service! Starting bid of 30 iron coins!" My knife came back up. Heh. I was trembling so fast I might be holding three knives! I was going silly from the stress. I couldn’t see correctly anymore, too many tears in my eyes. I lifted my sleeve to wipe my face, Artemis caught me before I could stab myself. Right the knife. The knife that could end Damonus. The knife that would end Damonus. The same Damonus who was a kid. Who was pleading with me. Who had just made a silly, dumb mistake that anyone with an unusual class might make. Damonus, who had bullied kids. Damonus, who was someone’s son.

I lifted my knife one last time, and –

Chapter 15

DECISIONS II

I lifted my knife one last time, and dropped it, clattering to the floor. I collapsed crying as well. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t end his life. Artemis picked me up, held me as I cried, comforted me. It was humiliating to be crying in front of Artemis. Why was that? I don’t know; I was too upset.

"I’m sorry Artemis!" I blubbered, "You’re right, I can’t do it! I can’t kill him in cold blood!"

"Shh, shh, it’s ok," She rocked me. She picked me up such that I was facing away from Damonus as she rocked me, comforted me. A sickening splat came from behind. I knew what had happened. I didn’t want to think about it. "Let’s go to the baths. It’s a good place to soak and relax after all of this. We can have a lovely chat." I didn’t want a lovely chat, but the baths sounded nice. I could cry in peace, and nobody would notice.

I was being carried around crying a lot these days. I didn’t like it. No more crying for me. I had been broken out of my kiddy naivety; I had a glimpse of how nasty the world really was. Fantasy world this was, fantasy land it wasn’t. Childhood was fun, but unlocking the system ended up locking away being a kid. We went down a few streets, and I wriggled my way out of Artemis’s arms to walk on my own. I expected the world to look different. I expected that darkness and evil would be coming around every corner. There was nothing of the sort. The vendors were still cheerfully selling their food, brightly painted signs advertising all sorts of wares that could be found. Kids still ran up and down the grey zone, making an obstacle course out of barrels and crates, swinging down ramps and ropes. Runners still sprinted by on their runs, and street kids still eyed unguarded purses. Given what fate awaited them otherwise, I really couldn’t blame them anymore. Not that I would relax my vigilance, but had a better understanding now.

We made it to the baths, stripped, and went in, finding a spot of our own in the swirling impenetrable steam. I saw Artemis’ body, covered in scars all over. I couldn’t help but stare, and she noticed.

"This one here," she pointed to a jagged streak under her breast, "was from a selkie. Thought it was a normal human at first – that’s how she got so close. I noticed the fur a hair too late. These ones," she pointed to a huge string of medium-sized cuts that made a pair of treads from her waist to her shoulder, "were from an Abelisaurus. Nasty thing broke through our formation and tried to eat me whole. Armor, vitality, and a defensive skill, and it still nearly ate me in one bite. Thank Solaris for teammates." I was horrified. I was fascinated. Her skin was a tapestry of all of the nasty things in the world that considered humans lunch, and an epic tale of survival. I looked closer. I couldn’t find more than an inch or so of unmarred flesh.

"What about your nose?" I asked. "Why is it a different color?"

"Well, lost it a few months ago. Healer patched me up, got me a new one."

"Wait, healers can restore lost noses?" I asked, incredulously. I didn’t believe her, but at the same time, her nose was a different color, and there was magic here.

"Yeah, it’s the defining skill of high-level Light healers." Artemis said. "Weren’t you listening earlier?"

The steam helped hide my blush.

"How did you get this one?" I asked, touching a streaky-looking scar on her leg.

"HA! You just had to pick that one. Your dad gave that to me when we were kids! We were just playing around, ‘Soldiers and Formorians’, and he got me good with his makeshift spear." She paused, reminiscing. "I beat him like a rug for that."

Artemis gave a deeply contented sigh as she sank into the water. "That’s the other half of life as a mage, fighting every day. Things fight back. Monsters don’t want to die any more than you do." I reflected on what Artemis was saying as I started to wash my hair. It was sticky and matted. Why was my hair sticky and matted? I hadn’t been playing in the mud. There were bits in my hair. I tugged one out as Artemis started to move quickly towards me. I looked. I realized. "Not in the bath!" Artemis cried out, conjuring a bowl in front of me right as I lost my breakfast. And lunch. And possibly last night’s dinner. Yup that was last night’s dinner.

A cry of disgust came from somewhere deep in the steams of the bath, as a small rock was thrown my way. Traditional. Deeply unappreciated at the moment.

We cleaned up as I was shaking, and Artemis did me the favor of washing the rest of my hair for me. I didn’t want to think about what was being cleaned out. Today had been harsh enough, and I just let myself luxuriate in the nice, clean (ItIsCleanDoNotThinkAboutIt) bath, steam rising up all around us.

"I’m sorry." Artemis apologized, as she splashed more water over my hair and ran her finger through it. "I’m used to all of this. The blood, the guts, the killing. I wanted to show you what the world was like, but I forgot just how sheltered people are in the towns. I forgot you’re just a kid. I overdid it. Sorry. I owe you one." I turned and gave Artemis a big hug, forgiving her. It was nice hugging Artemis. Even the scars that crisscrossed her all over weren’t unpleasant, just texturing.

"Why do you have scars on your body, but so few on your face?" With how dangerous everything was, I had a hard time believing that she had dodged every single headshot.

"I get most of those removed. I simply couldn’t have anything marring this beautiful mug of mine." Artemis replied flippantly, in a faux-fancy voice. "I keep a few important ones as a reminder, and this one," she gestured at a nasty-looking jagged one. "I haven’t had time to fix yet."

"How do you remove a scar?" I asked, fascinated. This was all new to me!

"Well, you need a Light-based healer, and a Dark-based healer. Sometimes you can get both in one healer, but they’re rare. Darkness healer removes the scar and scar tissue – and sometimes you’ll heal again without a scar, but that’s a coin toss, and you’ll lose every time – and the Light healer is to make sure it heals properly."

I thought Artemis said she didn’t know what Dark healers did. I guess she only knew some of it…?

We spent more time in the baths, people coming in and out while we soaked, letting the tension and stress of the day melt away. If Artemis was anything at all like me (which I was seriously doubting at this stage), the baths did good things to her mental health after a round of fighting and killing. Speaking of.

"Artemis, why did you decide to kill him in the end?" I couldn’t say his name.

"Because he was a threat to your dad. I don’t leave threats to my friends alive."

"How could he be a threat?"

"Remember the story of Indomindus the Slave and his quest for revenge?"

Of course I knew it, everyone grew up with the story, along with Nautus the Sailor, and Saguitus the Archer.

"How does that – oh. He would be mad at dad, and might come back later. But most people dad arrests don’t come back and try to kill him!"

"Maybe so. I’m around this time, and I’m not leaving anything to chance. I can’t get them all, but I can get this one."

Dark philosophy. I didn’t agree.

We must have spent another hour or two relaxing in the baths. I was just letting my thoughts wander, and I suspect Artemis was actively [Meditating]. I guess she could sit still! All good things must come to an end, and eventually we picked ourselves up out of the baths, toweled off, got dressed, and headed back home.

I still smelled a bit.

It was getting dark, and the moons were just starting to rise. I shivered. They were full again, and while I had adapted to most things in this world, the sight of a pair of ferocious red eyes glaring down on me every night still set my teeth on edge. They were watching. They knew everything. Artemis looked up at them, and frowned.

"You as well?" I asked.

"Yeah. They don’t sit right with me. They’re not natural." Artemis replied, walking along the road. "I’m kinda surprised you picked up on it. Most people don’t." We walked a bit more, Artemis deep in thought. "You know, I’m going to be around a few days while my squad has some time off. How about I help you get your general skills up?"

"Would you? Thank you THANK YOU!" I was jumping up and down in excitement. Training from Artemis! "I’ll have to check with mom if she’s ok with it. Hopefully I won’t be too busy with chores." I worried over it.

We made it home, and dad was still alive, hurray! From the sounds of it, that wasn’t a given when we left. Dad was still getting the stink-eye as he hurried around the house doing the thousand and one little things needed to keep it going. Mom had her arms crossed, wooden spoon slowly tapping. She must have a spoon related skill if it was still intact.

We all settled in for dinner after some time, and mom, dad, and Artemis spent ages catching up. I listened, fascinated, hearing about a life and a world I never knew existed. All three had come from the same village, but Artemis ran away from home when she was 15. She wouldn’t say why, but apparently went bright red and offered to do all of the cleaning up when mom alluded to it. Apparently, it had caused quite a stir. We were regaled with tales of trading with selkies, outwitting goblins at their own game, baiting dinosaurs, dealing with rogue classers, hunting down bandits, and occasionally, just occasionally, cleaning out slimes. My eyes were shining as I heard all of the adventures. Life as a Ranger sounded grand, but then I remembered the blood and the gore earlier, and I connected the line of scars on Artemis with the story of how the Abelisaurus nearly ate her. I shuddered. There was clearly a lot more to her stories than she was telling. Was she – was she trying to protect mom and dad as well? The idea boggled my mind.

"So Julia," Artemis leaned back, patting her stomach, having eaten enough food for five rowers. "I’m here for another day or three, and I’d like to train up Elaine here a hair."

"You’re not training Elaine how to fight. No. I forbid it." Mom was still on the warpath earlier from dad.

"But Julia– "

"Don’t ‘But Julia’ me! No means no."

"But Ju-"

"NO!"

"But – "

A glare cut Artemis off. Artemis, slayer of goblins. Artemis, eater of dinosaurs. Artemis, lightning-danger. What was this power, and how did I learn it?

"I just want to help her with her general skills." Artemis said very quietly and very, very quickly.

"Oh, well why didn’t you say so earlier? Of course, you can help Elaine with her general skills." Mom asked cheerfully, thunderclouds on her face gone.

"I was trying to! You wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise!" Artemis protested the unfair treatment. Heh. It was nice to see someone else get yelled at for once. Artemis caught my smirk, and shot me a look. Ooooh no, I was in for it now.

Chapter 16

GENERAL SKILLS BOOTCAMP

Artemis vanished before we all went to sleep, and reappeared the next morning, doing her absolute best to eat us out of house and home. Given that we generally didn’t store a ton of food, it was a very serious risk. Artemis and I left the house, and took a walk to the park.

"Alright, now that we’re alone, we can start." I looked at her puzzled. Artemis snorted at me. "I grew up with Julia. I know exactly how she thinks, and what she did with her skills. I can guess what she’s done with you and your skills. So, what skills do you actually have?"

"Identify, Knives, Vigilant, First Aid, Anatomy, Running, and Learning." I quickly rattled off.

"Elaine." Artemis looked at me.

"Yes?" I said, all innocence.

"I can count. Come on, spit it out, what’s your last skill?"

I looked down, slightly embarrassed. What would the fierce ranger Artemis think if she knew I took [Pretty]? She probably didn’t have anything like that. I wrung my hands together as I shifted from foot to foot. Anyone else I would be fine with telling. Anyone else I would be happy to tell. But this was ARTEMIS. She glared at me, foot tapping impatiently. I couldn’t bear the look.

"[Pretty]." I said, as quietly as I could. Artemis eyed me. Oh god here it was.

"Solid. Yeah, I can see that. Good pick!" she said. I was confused. Artemis didn’t laugh at me for it? She thought it was a good pick? "Oh, don’t look so confused. I have a similar skill."

"Oh? Which one?" I could believe it.

"Not telling! Nyeah." she replied, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Alright, let’s head back, I need to pick some things up from your place."

We headed back, where Artemis and mom did some running around, getting some strange things together. Some bandages I understood. What were the leather scraps for? Why were we bringing some thick woolen socks with us? And what was the comb for? This felt like a bad interrogation movie – "Won’t talk eh? Bring me a comb, a used wool sock, and an old boot." "No! Not the boot! Anything but the boot!" I was dead curious, but Artemis had a gleam of mischief in her eyes – it was clear she wouldn’t tell me anything. We wandered out of town, into a clear-cut field around the walls.

"Why here?" Thinking about it, I had spent nearly my entire life inside of the walls of Aquiliea. I hadn’t left. There just wasn’t a reason to leave, everything we needed could be found inside of the walls of the town. Oh sure, merchants, sailors, and farmers were constantly in and out – it wasn’t like everyone just lived inside – but for some reason, we just never had a reason to leave.

"Ok, quick review time. Class, level, mana regen, and levels of each of your general skills."

I gave a quick rundown, snapping out each point as quickly as I could.

"What on Pallos is [Child of Earth]?" Artemis eyed me suspiciously. Crap. This wasn’t good. I started to sweat – literally, it was already fairly warm, it didn’t take much more for me to start. Err Err Err…

"I have no idea," I said, very convincingly. Artemis didn’t look convinced. By Edor’s rusty trident, I was doomed. I looked down to the ground, pretending to be fascinated by the grass and ferns. Why was this field so short? The grass and ferns and other misc. plants should be growing as tall as possible should they not?

"Eh. Whatever. Congratulations on level 8. Sounds like you haven’t allocated any free stats yet, right?"

"Right."

"Ok. Don’t allocate anything into the physical stats. You’re still growing, you can get quite a few more naturally. You probably won’t get anything more in Speed though, since you have [Running]. I’m not completely sure, but it seems like if you have a skill relating to a stat, you’ll level the skill instead of the stat. I have no idea how to level the magical stats naturally. I’ve heard of it, no idea. Glad that [Learning] is at level 8. No idea how I’d level that one either. Ok, to start, let’s dump enough stats into your magic stats to get everything to 10. Quite a few entry-level classes I’ve heard of ask for that."

That made sense. Let me see. My magic stats were currently:

[Mana: 2]

[Mana Regeneration: 2]

[Magic Power: 2]

[Magic Control: 10]

So 8x3 = 24, 24 more stat points needed to get everything to 10. I had 32. Lucky me!

Hang on. "Hey Artemis, why are you telling me to get my magical stats up to 10? What about my physical stats? They should also unlock stuff, right?"

"Smart girl! I don’t see you going down a physical road, do you Ms. ‘I wanted to be a mage’?"

"I’m thinking more about being a healer though. I just don’t know."

"It works either way. Chop chop, we don’t have all day."

Artemis had an excellent point there. I allocated my 24 points, and was dismayed to see:

[Mana: 10]

[Mana Regeneration: 10]

[Magic Power: 9]

[Magic Control: 9]

"Hey Artemis, I put 24 points into my magic skills, but I didn’t get them all to 10. Magic Power only got to 9, and I lost a point in Magic Control!"

Artemis looked guilty for some reason. A torrent of foul language came out of her. I took notes, I was always looking for creative ways to swear.

"I uh," she started, "may have completely forgotten about the power/control trade off. I just fucked your class change over. There’s a world of difference between a stat split of 8/10 and a stat split of 9/9. Oh shit Elaine I’m so sorry, I’m so used to training someone in physical stats – they always easily hit four 10’s. I just don’t get mini-mages to train."

I still had a bunch of leftover free stats, why was she so upset? "Hey Artemis, you know I have 8 free stats left right?"

The shutters closed on her face. Artemis looked at me. Not in the happy way last night when we were eating food. Not in the sassy way when she had seen dad. Not in the matronly way when she was brushing my hair in the baths yesterday. No. This was terrifying. This was the look of Ranger and Monster. This was Artemis, the Huntress. I could feel a crackling in the air, my hair lifting up all around me. There was some distant yelling from the guards on the wall.

"Hey you." Artemis called at me. That wasn’t a nice tone of voice. That wasn’t "Elaine" or "kiddo" or anything with affection. That was "you". Artemis took out a round metal ball looking object covered with glowing runes. "This is a truth detector. You lie, it’ll go off, and a hundred lightning bolts fry your slimy monster guts." I peed myself in terror. What happened? Why was ARTEMIS of all people about to lightning bolt me? What had I done?

"First question: What’s your [Race]?"

"Human!" I responded all too quickly. Better be thorough just in case. No time for secrets if telling them might prevent lightning. "The damned god wanted to make me a golden crow but I said no I said I wanted to be human I have always been a human I was born human never anything but a human" I babbled, falling to my knees. This is what Damonus must have felt like yesterday. Oh god, I was going to get murdered in cold blood like Damonus. Artemis had no mercy.

Artemis narrowed her eyes further at my babblings, and I could see lightning starting to spark around her. She looked carefully, deliberately at the glowing lie detector in her hands.

"Second question: How do you have excess stat points?"

What. That’s what this was about? That one was easy! Some of the relief on my face must have shown, because Artemis relaxed. Maybe one hair. Literally one of my floating hairs went down.

"It’s [Child of Earth] it gives 3 free stat points per level not 1 or 2." Wait damnit that only got me to 24 stat points shit shit shit where did those last few points come from.

Artemis looked at the lie detector. Looked at me. Looked back. Looked… ashamed? I finished collapsing to the ground, taking great big deep breaths as the static in the air calmed down. Gods and I had peed myself. It stung and burned. This was the worst. Artemis probably hated me, that was why she had almost murdered me. Artemis sat down next to me, and after a long pause, started to speak.

"I’m sorry Elaine." She started, slowly, hesitantly. "It’s common knowledge that humans have a max of 24 free stat points for their first tier-up. That’s because [Child of Pallos] only offers two free points per level. So, when you said you had more, I instantly jumped to monster. There are quite a few monsters that look just like a human. Remember that landed selkie I was telling you about? The one that pretended to be a human to stab me? She came to me disguised as a kid, about your age. I immediately jumped to that. Or maybe a changeling. And the thought of a changeling living with my best friends, slowly waiting to get strong enough to murder them and flee into the night, well – I reacted accordingly. I didn’t even think to ask what [Child of Earth] did. It just slipped my mind. Elainus would have never forgiven me if I hurt you. Gods, he wouldn’t be able to, Julia would have murdered me first." Artemis buried her head in her hands. "I’ve been around monsters too much, and not around people nearly enough. I’m on a hair trigger. Can you forgive me Elaine?" Wait. Artemis was crying? I rolled over, thighs burning acrid on me.

"Two conditions," I demanded. I had been terrified.

"Anything." Artemis replied desperately.

"One: I need a fresh set of clothes after all that." Artemis gave a choking sob-laugh at that, as she pulled out a fresh set of clothes from her bag. "I thought you’d get muddy with what we were doing today, so I prepared a few extras. Turns out we needed it much earlier, ha-ha." Artemis tried to laugh, tried to make light of the situation. She failed miserably, but I appreciated the attempt.

"Two: Tell me about the truth-detector! I’ve never even heard you could do that!" Something that glowy and cool had to be powerful magic. It also seemed like it wasn’t a skill. Magic without a skill? I wanted.

Artemis gave a real laugh at that. "Oh this? It’s a standard-issue ranger flask. It purifies water for us when we’re in the wilderness." What. Lies! I suppose she thought I might be a monster, so it was fair game. Still. Shiny truth detector, gone. "It’s made by our engraver. Handy stuff engraving, you can make objects that use mana with them. You can have it if you want though."

I thought about it, but fear and terror were taking a hike, leaving just exhaustion behind. What did I need a magic water bottle for in the city? It sounded like Artemis needed that. "No, you keep it."

"Fine. How about I owe you a big favor instead?" Artemis bargained.

I rolled over, giving her a big hug, forgiving her. Artemis wiped her face, and got up, seemingly bouncing back. "Also, if you don’t tell your parents about this, I’ll owe you two more big favors!" She grinned. Artemis was irrepressible.

"Yeah yeah fine." I waved it off. If I told my parents, I would probably never see Artemis again.

A quick, humiliating trip into town to change and clean up, and we were back outside in the field.

"Alrighty! First off, put those two amazing bonus points of yours into power and control, then you’re going to run!" I did as Artemis said, and started jogging lightly. "Come on Elaine! When I say run, you RUN! Like a vicious monster is going to eat you alive!" Artemis started playing with a knife, having it bounce up and down. I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to hurt me, not after earlier. I wasn’t going to risk it. I went up to a run, and was rewarded.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 4!]

After about 12 minutes or so of running, I suddenly felt much heavier, much more tired. It was hard to move my legs. What was going on? I was in pretty good shape! I ran all the time! Artemis chuckled at my confusion.

"You’re brand new to running with a skill and mana to back it up. What you’re feeling now is how you normally feel when you run. You just got used to the skill crutch super-fast. You can keep running without it, but you won’t be as fast. Slowpoke."

"Slowpoke!?" I huffed out "You’re the slowpoke!" Artemis got a dangerous gleam in her eye.

"Well, let’s race then! I win, you do my laundry. You win, you get the privilege of doing my laundry."

"Hey wait- "

"Ready set go!" Artemis blurted out, starting to run. I ran as fast as I could, catching up, starting to overtake her. Ha! Running skill, here we go!

"Eat my dust!" Artemis cried out, stepping up the gas. She ran directly in front of me, kicking up a large cloud of dust. How did she do that when it was muddy? Coughing, barely able to see, I slowed down and indicated my surrender.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 5!]

Hands waving above her head in triumph, Artemis crowed. "Woo free laundry service! Alrighty, we’re going to work on some of your other skills while your mana regenerates. Here, let’s go sit on those rocks over there."

We wandered over to some boulders, and took a seat. Much better than the ground. Artemis pulled my knife and a MANGO from her bag. I liked where this was going! Artemis showed me how to properly hold a knife, how to properly use it safely. Always think about the direction of the cut. Always imagine what happens when it slips. Will it go into your finger? Will it go into your friend? Will it go into your face? Will it go into your family? The four F’s Artemis called them.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Knives] has reached level 2!]

Success! It really seemed like the early levels were much easier to get than the later levels. How high did levels go anyways? I started to, with as must restraint as I could muster, try to peel the mango to get to the delicious insides. "Hey Artemis, what’s the highest level?"

"Lots of people will tell you lots of things." Artemis got a comb out from her seemingly never-ending bag. "Some people think it’s 1000. Others will tell you it’s 500. I personally think it’s 10,000. There’s a theory out there that it’s around level 4000." She started combing my hair as I was carefully getting the rind off the mango. That was nice. It was also distracting.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 3!]

Ah, that’s why Artemis was combing my hair.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Knives] has reached level 3!]

Success! Mango peeled, ready to be eaten! I carefully carved out a slice of heaven, and was about to take a bite when -.

"YOINK!" Artemis grabbed the mango out of my hands, popped it in her mouth, and started to chew. I looked at her, mouth gaping wide.

"MY MANGO!" I cried out with all the indignation in my body. "YOU STOLE MY MANGO!"

"Yup." Artemis kept chewing happily. "Good stuff. Got anymore for me?" She grinned cockily.

I screamed in fiery rage, and remembered I had a knife. Knives weren’t for sticking in friends, but maybe they were for sticking in foes? And a mango thief was a foe. Without thinking, I slashed out wildly, only for Artemis to laughingly stop my knife with the palm of her hand.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Knives] has reached level 4!]

"Well, you’ve got some fire in you, which is good! I was worried for a bit there. Although, you didn’t break skin, which is a problem." Artemis looked bummed. "I hate cutting myself."

My impotent rage died out almost as quickly as it had started, and I felt a cold sweat go all over me. That had been monumentally stupid. Artemis could quite literally kill me with a thought, and I was throwing a tantrum over a slice of MANGO? Whoof. Barely thinking, I sliced some more chunks off and meekly handed them to Artemis without complaint. Artemis happily ate them as I made them.

In this way we passed the day. Artemis lectured a little bit on the medical knowledge she had. It was practical knowledge mostly, gathered up from needing to patch herself up from dozens of fights, but most of it was flat out wrong. I reviewed the right knowledge (or what I thought was right – I didn’t know a lot in the first place), and [Anatomy] went up. Artemis gave herself a few small cuts, had me slice the old socks into make-shift bandages to cover them, and [First Aid] leveled. We would run when my mana was full, and sometimes when it was empty, to help level [Running]. Artemis had me cut at the leather scraps she had brought, working on [Knives]. We had a lovely time with cosmetics and combs, painting nails and some beautiful tunics, and [Pretty] was boosted. A tunic might have gotten into a slight paint mishap in the process. I was glad it wasn’t my nice one.

It was the late afternoon when I finally got every skill except [Identify] up to level 8. [Identify] was apparently a real bear to level, and even Artemis begrudgingly admitted that she only had it around level 120 or so. We took a moment to review my stats after all of this:

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 8]

[Mana: 100/100]

[Mana Regeneration: 90]

[Class 1: [Child of Earth - Wood: Lv 8]]

[Class 2: Locked]

[Class 3: Locked]

Stats

[Free Stats: 6]

[Strength: 4]

[Dexterity: 7]

[Vitality: 3]

[Speed: 4]

[Mana: 10]

[Mana Regeneration: 10]

[Magic Power: 10]

[Magic Control: 10]

General Skills

[Identify: 3]

[Knives: 8]

[Pretty: 8]

[Vigilant: 8]

[First Aid: 8]

[Anatomy: 8]

[Running: 8]

[Learning: 8]

Chapter 17

THE FIRST CLASS-UP

"You’re just about ready to class up now! Congratulations!" Artemis threw her hands up in the air. "You only have one real decision left to make. Do you allocate your last few stat points into Strength, Dexterity, or Speed to get them up to level 10, or not?" Artemis paused and thought for a moment. "I suppose you can also try and train them up to 10 on your own naturally. You’d lose a lot of growth time of your main class though, and I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone do it."

Breathe Elaine, breathe. This was all coming on way too fast. I knew I was heading in that direction. I had no illusion on why Artemis was training me, that I needed to eventually pick a class. I just didn’t think it would happen this fast, this soon. Artemis noticed my distress, and tried to help me.

"Ah it’s fine, you should just focus on it and get it done with! What’s the worst that can happen? Julia murders you?" Never mind. She wasn’t trying to help me; she was enjoying winding me up. I couldn’t think. I had to think. This was too important to get pressured into. Stall, stall, how could I stall?

"Hey, could you tell me if you think I should put my points into a stat, and which one?" Ahha, stalling tactic found!

"Yeah, get speed to 10. Most of your running efforts are going to result in [Running] going up, not speed, so spare yourself the effort of leveling it naturally and just get it. Then you’ll have no excuse!"

I thought about what Artemis said. I mostly asked as a stalling tactic, but she did have an excellent point. I wasn’t going to get too many more points in Speed naturally, and out of the physical stats, Speed and Dexterity were the ones that spoke to me the most. I could save for later. I might find myself needing to boost another stat. Artemis made excellent points. Getting Speed to 10 might unlock more options.

Slowly, solemnly, I allocated my last few points to speed. I looked at Artemis. She gave me an encouraging nod. "Hang on, should we not talk with mom and dad?" I asked. Artemis was being strangely insistent on me classing up right now.

"Eh, what could they say? Just go on, do it, go! Become what you always wanted, what you were always meant to be. You’ll know what I mean when you get there. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you while you’re gone."

Protection? Why would I need protection? Where was I going? Ah well, Artemis was probably being metaphorical or something. I wasn’t quite sure. I focused on my first class to class up, and got a notification:

[*ding!* Are you sure you want to Class Up now? Yes/No]

I focused on selecting the yes, and felt my mind sucked away.

I was standing in a library. A library! At long last! Rows of books everywhere, from floor to ceiling! A grand chamber, filled with knowledge, books with spines of all colors. Most were white or grey. Many were shades of pink and red. A few other colors were scattered throughout – some yellows, a green or two, even a violet book inside of a case. There was a staircase leading to another floor, but there was a delicate chain denying access.

"Hello!" A musical voice came from behind me. I whirled around, to see a young woman standing behind a counter, where a librarian would be in a normal library. She had gentle blue eyes, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with wavy light brown hair going down just a bit past her shoulders. She encapsulated the word "pretty", with delicate facial features.

"Oh my god! Are you from Earth as well!?" I asked, spotting a familiar band’s logo on her shirt.

She chuckled at that. "Yes and no. I’m you. You’re me. I’m your guide here, the part of your soul that understands the system. Here, with the way you perceive things, I’m the [Librarian]. The book for that class is right here," she took out a pale pink book, "but I’d have to recommend against it. Give it a read through, see what it’s like."

It had been so long since I last read anything. At least nine years. Curious, confused, I picked up the book and started reading. I read of the smell of musty books, of organizing shelves. I read a tale of selecting and curating books. I read of reading books and literature all day. I read of perfect recall, of knowing where every book in my domain was located. I read of research, of helping people find the knowledge they needed. I read of being the [Librarian]. With great reluctance, I tore myself away from the last page. "Wow. Just wow. What a trip. You said you’re against me learning this?"

The Librarian – that was how I decided to call her, since "me" was just too confusing – smiled sadly. "You have the love and the passion needed, and so it’s allowed. But tell me. Can you read in the world we are in? Do books even exist in the world we are in? Would they even allow a woman to be a librarian? We get experience for performing in our class, and a librarian without a library is nothing."

She was me. I knew I couldn’t argue with her, for the truth of the matter came from my heart. "Maybe for another class…" I reluctantly hedged. And I knew she knew it as well. "Maybe." A sad smile. "Hey! First library in years. Let’s go reading!" She tried to cheer me up. It worked. Of course it would work, we were the same person. So, I went reading.

[Baker’s Apprentice]. [Yoga Enthusiast]. [Apprentice Tailor]. [Slicer of Fruit]. [Apprentice Archer].

[Sailor]. [Doctor]. [Squire]. [Farmhand]. A series of Acolyte positions for a dizzying number of gods. [Student]. [Washer]. [Paymaster]. [Innkeeper’s Wife]. [Computer Programmer]. [Dockhand]. [Medical Student]. [Scribe]. [Murderer of Mangos]. [Nun]. [Speaker for Etalix]. [Revolutionary]. [Apprentice Coppersmith]. [Berserker]. [Druid]. [Legionary]. [Prophet of Papilion]. [Apprentice Vampire Hunter].

And more. So many more, in dizzying arrays of colors. I was in love. I read adventures of me climbing the highest mountains with a climbing class. Diving into caves and finding gems and ores with mining classes. Traveling the world with an all-round [Adventurer] class.

Yuk. Who would ever want to be an [Adventurer]?

"Why are some titles in grey? They seem to be all over the place."

"Those are locked. You may know of them, but you don’t meet the requirements. You have some minor affinity for them – it lets you see that it exists – but you can’t select it. You might find a class worth working towards though."

I found a room off to the side, tucked away. What could be here? "Don’t go. You don’t want to know." The librarian tried to warn me. I paused, considering. She was me. She knew all about me. She was probably right that I didn’t want to know. She knew it was futile, I wouldn’t listen. My thirst for knowledge was too great. I looked around, and what I saw made me sick.

[Slave]. [Prostitute]. [Child Soldier]. [Poisoner].

Those were the kinder ones, the gentler ones. The more titles I skimmed on the spines of books, the more classes I read and learned about, the worse I felt. I fled the room, huddled into a corner, protected by the books, the lovely books. [Debtor]. What a wonderful class. Who wouldn’t want to be a [Debtor] after seeing what was in that other room? The Librarian walked over, comforted me. She knew just what to say. She had been right, oh so right. There were terrible classes out there.

"How about I get together some classes I think you’ll like together, hmm?" She knew me. Of course, I would nod my head in assent. I had enough of reading random adventures, seeing the life I would have if I was a [Cobbler]. A few minutes passed, as she browsed the shelves, getting books together. In the end, a modest pile awaited me.

[Apprentice Mage - Earth]. Requirements: 10 in all magic stats. Exposure to multiple schools of magic. You’ve burned with the desire to be a mage all your life. Here’s your chance. + 1 Free stat, + 2 Magic Control, +2 Magic Power, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen per level.

[World Traveler - Spatial]. Requirements: Visited at least 3 worlds. Spoken to the inhabitants. Speak multiple languages. You’ve somehow ripped apart the void between worlds, traveling and visiting. This class will help you do it again. + 6 Free Stats, + 2 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +7 Vitality, +4 Speed, +10 Mana, +14 Mana Regeneration, + 9 Magic Control, +20 Magic Power per level.

[Apprentice (Control/Power) Healer – Light, Dark, Water, Wood]. Requirements: Medicine or First aid at level 8. 2/4 Magic skills at 10+. You have a healing heart, a healing mind, and with this class, a healing touch. +1 Free Stat, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control per level. Additional +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power per level if Power is picked. Additional +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Control per level if Control is picked.

[Revolutionary - Fire]. Requirements: A burning desire for change. You’ve seen what the world is like, and it’s not to your tastes. Bring the fires of change with you, and change the world to be more what you think it should be. +7 Free Stats per level.

[Prophet of Papilion - Mist]. Requirements: You have directly spoken with the major god Papilion, God of Change, and have somehow survived sane. This class will help open a link to him, where you can bring his word and change to the world – and yourself. +50 Free Stats per level.

[Runner - Wind]. Requirements: Running at level 8. Speed at 10 or greater. The wind calls you to, and you answer. +3 Free Stat, +8 Speed, +2 Mana Regen per level.

[Emergency Medic – Wind, Light]. Requirements: Running at level 8. First Aid at level 8. 2/4 Magic Stats at 10+. Tended to injuries in a fight. You’re the angel of mercy, the Florence Nightingale, the EMT. You dive headlong into battles to save lives. +3 Free Stats, +2 Speed, +2 Dexterity, +2 Magic Power, +3 Magic Control, +3 Mana Regeneration per level.

[Student - Metal]. Requirements: Learning at level 8. A passion for knowledge. You seek knowledge and information wherever it may be, from reading, to apprenticing, to listening, and more. This class will help you learn more easily, remember more, and find more. +5 free stats per level.

"I included [Prophet of Papilion] and [World Traveler] because they’re the most powerful classes we have access to. They’re dangerous. Read them carefully."

So, I read. Prophet turned me into little more than a mouth piece, a rambling conduit for Papilion whenever he chose to Speak. Oh, I would have agency when I wasn’t hijacked for a speaking. But I would be expected to stay in a temple, tended to by priests, feared by all for the next word coming out of my mouth. That wasn’t me. I didn’t want that.

Why didn't I want that? I thought about it. It was, in many ways, a lifestyle I wanted. Easy. Opulent. Human rules didn’t apply to me. I had wealth, I had riches, I had fame. Something had to be lacking though. I went back over, and read again what was there. There were no friends. No Lyra sharing my every secret. And there was no freedom. I was in a cage. The most beautiful cage to have ever been built, a cage of my own making, but still a cage. Still a slave to Papilion and his every desire. No. This wouldn’t be me.

I went to [World Traveler]. It seemed fine. I went from world to world, always traveling, meeting new people, learning new languages. Friends, and sometimes lovers, came and went. There was always a new horizon. Always a new adventure. It painted a rosy, if transient, lifestyle.

"I don’t understand. What is the issue with this one?"

"You can’t use it. It requires you to travel worlds both as a prerequisite, and as the primary way of leveling. However, you lack the power to travel, even with the class bonuses and skills. You’ll simply be stuck here, unable to leave, unable to level. As you’re right now, it’s a waste of a class. One day in the future, maybe. It’s worth knowing about. Don’t pick it today."

"Why can I pick this, but not the starter class for it?" I asked, looking at a grey starter class that probably lead to [World Traveler].

The Librarian looked amused at me. "It’s because you don’t meet the requirements for it, while you DO meet the [World Traveler] requirements. Bit of a reversal."

I filed that knowledge away. A possible way to my once-home. It hurt. I had made my peace with being here, with my new mom and dad. There was a way to maybe see my old parents, my old friends? I was in a completely different body. Would they even believe me? Was it worth trying? I filed all of that away as "Future Elaine’s Problem." She would hate me for that, I knew it. Maybe one day when I had the power and capability, when I had more emotional maturity and could properly think things through, I would revisit the problem.

[Emergency Medic] Had a similar, but less severe problem. I would need to be in fights, actively rescuing and saving people. It was convenient in many ways, and it seemed to be a bit stronger than my other options. I didn’t see that many fights in town though, and I suspected that I would end up trapped at a low level for a long, LONG time. Given the bonus to growth when fighting, I suspected it would skyrocket – if I ever got the chance.

I appreciated The Librarian bringing me the Apprentice Mage book, but we both knew it was a tribute to a dream more than anything else, a way to reassure me that I had the chance, I could pick it, and I was explicitly choosing not to be a mage like Artemis. I would’ve always wondered "What if", and always thought about wanting the class and not having the chance, if the book wasn’t in the pile. It was in the pile, and I had closure.

I picked up [Runner] next. I read through it. Moving from town to town, city to city. Running through the streets, important messages in my bag. The lifeblood of civilization, good mail service. Secrets, intrigue, bandits trying to waylay me for the critical communication. A home base I operated out of, friends and family present. This was a good life. This was a life that spoke to me. I couldn’t see anything wrong with it, and it immediately went high up on my "to-take" list. I had a few more books left to read.

[Revolutionary] was next. I saw myself peacefully protesting System Day only allowing boys to participate in the temple’s activities. I saw myself violently rioting over women not being allowed to be citizens. Peaceful protest over a lack of property rights. Violent rebellion against being considered property ourselves. More and more scenes, violent, peaceful, some bringing change, most ending with a grisly death and injustice continuing to rule. In more than half, strange giant ants killed me. My cause was clear. My cause was just. I was never the leader though; I was always alone or following someone else. It wasn’t a peaceful life. It wasn’t a good life. Sometimes friends, occasionally family. Friends betrayed; family tried to stop me from my purpose. It was a life with meaning, with purpose, it was a life with a higher calling.

Reading [Revolutionary] made me question [Runner], and if I was really ok with it. Onto the last class, the strange multi-dimensional [Apprentice (Control/Power) Healer – Light, Dark, Water, Wood].

It wasn’t flashy and impressive like [World Traveler]. It lacked the riches and opalescence of [Prophet of Papilion]. It had the good life of [Runner]. It filled a higher calling like [Revolutionary]. It felt right. It clicked with me. This is what I was born for. This is why I was here. This is why I had all of my biology and medical knowledge still intact. Oh, it was miles away from what a real doctor would have had. It was enough, when combined with magic.

I didn’t even look at [Student]. It wouldn’t fit me, it wouldn’t wrap around me like a skin, it wouldn’t sing to me the way the lowly, insignificant seeming [Apprentice (Control/Power) Healer] did. The only real decision to be made at this point was what type I was picking, and even then, it was no real choice.

Dad’s mangled face flashed through my mind as I went up to the library counter, The Librarian waiting for me behind it. "So, what now?" I asked, unsure of the procedure.

She smiled. "Now we check the book out to you. Be sure to bring it back when you’re done with it."

"I err…" I hesitated, unsure of how to say this. "I don’t have a library card…."

A moment of silence passed. Two moments of silence. If this was anything but an unnatural world, there would be tumbleweeds. The Librarian’s poker face eventually broke, and she burst into laughter.

"A library card ah ha ha oh god that is the best thing I have ever heard." She was dying with laughter over there. "Elaine, this is your – our – library. We can check out anything. Who else could even come here?"

Ah, of course. This was my world, my realm. The Librarian took the book from me, ran it under a scanner, and handed it back to me. "You’re all set. Have a wonderful evening!"

I looked around one last time, seeing the only trappings of modern life that I had seen in years. I hoped I would be back soon.

"Goodbye Librarian."

"Goodbye Elaine."

I turned and left through the doors that had somehow always been there, and yet were never there until now.

I swear my ears nearly burst with the number of notifications I got upon waking up in the dark with Artemis standing over me.

Chapter 18

CHAPTER-18

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve upgraded your first class – [Apprentice Control Healer] - Light]

[[Apprentice Control Healer] – Healing calls to you, and you have answered. Now go forth, and learn how to heal]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Apprentice Control Healer] has leveled up to level 9! +1 free stat point, +1 Mana, +2 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +2 Magic Control from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Apprentice Control Healer] has leveled up to level 10! +1 free stat point, +1 Mana, +2 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +2 Magic Control from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Mana Regeneration from your element]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Apprentice Control Healer] has leveled up to level 32! +1 free stat point, +1 Mana, +2 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +2 Magic Control from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Mana Regeneration from your element]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]

[*ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]

What on Pallos was going on? Unlocking the system got you all of your accumulated experience until then, but I had never heard of someone immediately jumping up to level 32 and being ready to class up AGAIN.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Light Affinity]!] You’ve worked with light magic some, and with this skill, your ability to use light magic will improve. Increased affinity per level.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Soothing Touch]!] Healing is easier when your patients are calmer. Your touch can calm and sooth patients. Control and efficiency improved per level.

[*ding!* Your [Anatomy] skill and [First Aid] skill can merge into a class skill! Would you like to learn [Medicine]? Nothing will be lost in the merging of the skill.]

[*ding!* For reaching level 10, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Minor General Healing Boost]!] You’ve worked hard at healing, and with this skill, you’ll be able to help your patients heal a bit faster. Increased efficiency per level.

[*ding!* For reaching level 15, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Flash]!] Generates a bright flash of light. Seems useless, right?

[*ding!* For reaching level 15, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Centered Mind]!] As nice as it’s for patients to be calm, it’s even more important for the healer to not freak out. Increased stability per level.

[*ding!* For reaching level 20, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Light]!] You’re the bright light for your patients. With this skill, that metaphor can be a bit more literal. Brighter, longer light per level.

[*ding!* For reaching level 25, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Minor Local Healing Boost]!] You were able to heal your patients a bit faster. With this skill, you can now target what gets healed faster. Increased focus and efficiency per level.

[*ding!* For reaching level 30, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Invigorate]!] You’re no good at invigorating people with words and actions, so we’re giving you a skill to compensate. Give energy to a person. Increased efficiency per level.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 9!]

I just lay there, stunned. What was going on? So many tasty skills! I could heal magically! Kinda. But I just couldn’t get really excited by it. I just jumped from level cap to level cap. This couldn’t end well for me. I had a dread suddenly take me over. What if Artemis could tell that I was now level 32? What if she decided that yes, I was indeed a monster? What if she lightninged me into nothingness? I started to sweat. I couldn’t meet her eyes.

"Come on already, tell me whatcha got," Artemis coaxed. I hadn’t even heard her ask the first time. I sweated. I should just tell her. I could explain. No, she would lightningify me before I could explain. Hair trigger. I could feel some sweat start to form.

"Wow, that bad? Yikes." I was an open book. She would find out eventually. Maybe if I just told her, she wouldn’t identify me and find out my level.

"I got [Apprentice Control Healer] - Light]." I mumbled.

Artemis squatted next to me. "Aww, cheer up! That’s a fine class to get! Sure, it isn’t [Mage’s Apprentice] like you were aiming for, but it’s a really good class! You also got light affinity! Light control healers are the BEST! Saved my life oh um… hmm... that one time in the Kadan jungle doesn’t really count… but that time in Ariminum really should… 15 times! At least. Probably one or two more times I can’t remember." She waved that off. As if dodging death wasn’t a big deal.

I gave a huge sigh of relief. She thought I was bummed out about getting a bad class, not the level thing. Safe!

"Aww cheer up. You’ve gotten a gre-, errr, decent class! And so soon after unlocking your system! Well, a lot of people get a class after unlocking their system, but it’s usually something enforced on them by their parents. It’s usually not very good either." Artemis winked at me. "Well, let me be the first one to see your lovely new tag!"

"Eeep! No!" I cried out, curling up in a ball. Please make it fast, please make it fast, no pain please.

"Elaine?" Artemis sounded worried. She kneeled down next to me, wrapping me in a hug. "Elaine, it’s ok. You can tell me. I won’t hurt you. Shhhh, it’s ok. Even if you have a terrible class like [Murderer], I’m here for you." Fuckit.

"It….. it’s not my class," I said through sobs. "My level. 32. Please don’t lightning me I don’t want to be lightninged. I’m a human, I promise."

"Oh honey," Artemis’s voice broke. "I’d never lightning you." She quickly glanced at me, and went back to reassuring. "Not my little healy-bug. It’s ok, shhh, shhh. Your level doesn’t matter." She continued to hold me and rock me. I felt relieved. I remembered a sickening thud. I worried more. She held me more tightly. Relief. Worry. Reassurance. At long last, forgiveness, acceptance.

I don’t know how long I spent breaking down, and Artemis building me back up. The moons were high up in the sky by the time we were heading back in town, half-lidded like a dragon going to sleep. We got home late, and I was handed off to mom, who promptly tucked me in bed. Exhausted, I started to drift off when a sound like a bomb went off.

"What did you do to Elaine!?" Mom exploded in rage.

Some quiet mutterings I couldn’t make out.

"She came back with a [Healer] tag. But that’s not all, nooooooo. For some reason she has color now! Color when you identify her! What. Did. You. Do!?"

Thwacking noises. Cries of protest.

"You really expect me to believe that you didn’t decide to kill a few monsters when you were out there!? How else could she have gotten so many levels?! She didn’t get them here in town!!" Mom was righter than she knew on that. I had a sneaking suspicion what happened.

More pained noises. Indignant cries. Wounded cries. The sound of wood on bamboo. It was nice to hear someone else getting the flat end of the spoon. I smiled as I rolled over to sleep.

I awoke the next day to find Artemis gone. Apparently, her break was just about over, and it was time for her team to get going. Wish I had met some of that team, although if they were anything like Artemis, I probably wouldn’t have survived the week.

The next day, I had a long talk with mom about the skills I had acquired, and a path forward for me. Apparently, she had Ideas about what class I should’ve taken, and it was only Artemis’s interference that let me really pick what I wanted to be. Mom really didn’t want me having the [Healer] tag when identified – apparently it brought trouble. "Since they know you’re not a fighter or physically based."

I had thought that [Minor General Healing Boost] would be the least useful skill of mine, but mom thought it was [Flash]. I thought it could be used to defend myself, mom pointed out that I shouldn’t be doing much defending. I pointed out her [Healer] comment, and she retorted that I might as well be good at what my tag says.

I conceded. She was my mom after all, and I had already unwittingly thrown a bunch of wrenches in her plans.

The next day I went out to find Lyra. I had soooo much to share with her! Skills! Classes! Levels!

I went into Lyra’s home – the smell was worse than usual; they were never good about the mold but I would never say anything - and found her quickly, looking a little sweaty. Probably the heat, it was getting hot, and a house with a bunch of people in it wasn't exactly cool.

"LYRA!"

"Elaine."

"Oh my god I have so much to tell you! I classed up!"

"So did I!!" Lyra exclaimed, perking up. "Mom asked me to get [Seamstress], so I did, and Elaine! Elaine! She was so happy with me! I got a hug! It was so nice!" Lyra looked off dreamily.

"Well, if you like hugs so much!" I hugged her myself, Lyra’s skinny arms wrapping around me.

"Thanks Elaine. You’re the best."

"No, you!" I shot back, then remembered something. "Weren’t you thinking about getting [Apprentice Divine Priestess] or something?"

"Yeah…" Lyra’s voice had a strong note of sad longing. "But mom wanted [Seamstress]! Dad also talked with me a bunch about it!" She sounded so excited about that.

I wasn’t sure if a moment of happiness was worth grabbing a class that didn’t excite me. Well, I wasn’t Lyra, so I couldn’t say. We’d be together forever, I’d make sure she was happy.

I felt so bad for Lyra. Was this the fate that was in store for me if Artemis hadn’t worked her unique brand of non-lethal magic? She had played me so well, without me realizing what was going on. I think I would probably be grateful as I grew up.

"Well, hey, let’s go play in the park! Running, jumping and more! I leveled up my [Running] a bunch and I got 10 speed!"

"Pffft," A light chuckle from Lyra. "I did sooo much better than you. I got my dexterity to 17, and strength to 15. HA!"

Ah hmm. Yeah, I had basically nothing in the physical stats, so everyone would outstrip me. Where was that lovely grey zone, I would probably end up living in it.

"So! Park? You can show off all your cool new tricks!" I asked.

"Sorry Elaine, not today. Maybe tomorrow."

I eyed her suspiciously.

"Is everything ok?" I asked.

She thought about it, struggling internally, before forcing a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'm ok." I didn't completely believe her, but I let it be. She’d tell me if something was actually wrong.

Maybe she didn’t want to play because she wanted to hang out with her parents?

I woke up the next day to find The Maestrai was in full force today, a violent, vicious wind off of the Nostrum sea. Mom and I spent the day hunkered down inside, passing the time, with bonus dad. He usually had to work in The Maestrai anyways, but having a week off of work was nice. We could all spend quality time together. He confessed that he generally spent most of the time hunkered down as well, even when working. The wind wasn’t particularly dangerous, it was just exceedingly uncomfortable to be out and about in. Especially if a pair of mischievous girls grabbed handfuls of sand and went running around throwing it in the air. I felt a tiny bit bad for that stunt Lyra and I pulled, but in our defense, it was fun. A day with family, a day to bond, a day to check out my new skills and put them in practice. A good day. Sadly, sans Lyra, but hey, there was always tomorrow to catch up some more and play.

I woke up in the middle of the night to a pair of notifications that would haunt my nightmares for years to come. The happy *ding* of the system forevermore would fill me with dread, fearful that I would see it again, a cruel reminder of what I had done, of what happened.

[*ding!* You have slain an [Apprentice Seamstress] (Water, lv 8)]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Poisoning]! Would you like to replace a General Skill with [Poisoning]?]

[Poisoning]: With malice or without, you’ve gotten a poison into another’s body, killing them. With this skill, you can do it again, and even better! Increased knowledge of poisons per level.

It didn’t make it clear who it was. But I knew who, without a shadow of doubt.

I had somehow killed Lyra.

Chapter 19

FUNERAL

It had been the bandages. The damn bandages that I thought were fine. The ones I knew hadn’t been boiled, but knowledge of boiling wasn’t present here, wouldn’t be known. I had been flippant. I had been selfish. I had chosen to protect myself and my secrets, over the health, and in the end, life, of my best friend.

The house hadn’t been smelly because of the mold. It was the smell of Lyra’s legs rotting away under those bandages. There had been other things I didn't pick up on. Being pale and sweaty. The [Poisoner] class being an option. Not being as lively when playing in the park, moving to not wanting to play at all. She hadn’t been keeping them on because she thought it would make me happy. She was in pain. She thought she should just keep her head down and suffer quietly, to not make us unhappy, to not make me worry. IDIOT! Mom might have been able to do something if she had known. We could’ve gone to another healer and fixed her even if mom wasn’t able to do anything. I could’ve tried to [Invigorate] her, or even use [Minor General Healing Boost] to help fight the infection. Damnit Lyra, why did you not tell us, why did you not let us help!?

Why did you go, Lyra, my only friend, why? I don’t want to be here without you. You were my sun, my best friend, my partner in crime, my twin. We should’ve grown up together, been neighbors, always covering each other. Our kids would have also been best of friends. All that was gone now.

Maybe not gone. "PAPILION! YOU BASTARD! GIVE LYRA BACK!" Seira or Aion might also have a hand in restoring Lyra. None of them answered. Death was final.

Lyra didn’t rate a crypt, or even any sort of burial site. The best we managed to do was a fire with just her. I slowly took Daphne, Lyra’s favorite doll, and placed it onto the pyre before it was lit.

"Be at peace now Lyra. You can be a Priestess now. Papilion will see to it, I know it." I sent a prayer, as fierce as I could, and felt my mana draining in response this time. Who knows, maybe it helped. More likely it just did nothing.

The pyre was lit, and Lyra’s body went up with it. I hoped White Dove had taken her somewhere better. I knew Black Crow had my feelings.

I had been sandbagging. I had been casual about this world. I thought I had been beamed to a fantasy world, that everything would always turn out ok. I had been scared of revealing what I was, who I was, and the knowledge I did have. Oh, the truly scary stuff might be gone, whatever physics and chemistry were. I still had a ton. I still knew germ theory. I still knew boiling water was good. I still knew that blood circulated. I still knew that four humors was bullshit. I knew about the kidney, the liver, heart and lungs, guts and gonads. I was no doctor, but what little the average modern-day girl picked up was leagues and miles ahead of what they had here. There would be no more sandbagging. There would be no more concealing of knowledge, when that knowledge could save someone’s life. They had lives as vivid and amazing as mine, who was I to say mine was worth so much more?

As I watched Lyra’s body go up in flames, I made a solemn oath to myself.

First, do no harm.

Healing is my art.

I will use all of my knowledge and tools at my disposal to heal those that come to me.

I will heal those I see to the best of my ability.

I will apply all measures that are required to my patients.

I will never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain.

I will not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means.

I will defend the patients under my care from harm and injustice.

I will only take up a knife to defend myself or my patient.

I will admit when I don’t know how to heal a patient.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, and hold in confidence anything that is said to me.

I will teach and spread my knowledge to the best of my abilities, asking for no recompense.

I will not forget you.

There was clearly so much more to the system than people knew or were taught, because after making that oath, I got a notification.

[*ding!* You have made the promise [Oath of Elaine to Lyra]! Would you like to accept this general skill? WARNING: Oaths are binding.]

A warning, and an ominous one to boot. I took it without hesitating. It was a much better tribute to Lyra, a better reminder of her, than taking the [Poisoning] skill.

[Oath of Elaine to Lyra]: A solemn healing Oath from Elaine, to Lyra. +5% healing knowledge, power, and control per level while followed. Breaking the Oath has severe consequences.]

This would do as my eternal remembrance of Lyra. This would do.

Chapter 20

6 YEARS AND CHANGE LATER

Time went by in a blur, and before I knew it, I was 14 with fall fast approaching. It was just about time to transition from bamboo tunics to woolen ones, and I grabbed my dyed bamboo shirt, and a plain woolen one, to get the green trims carefully moved over. I said bye to mom, and started to walk down to the river to do the sewing.

I still missed Lyra, every day. She had been gone for as long as I had known her, and the raw, burning pain of her loss had dulled into a persistent ache. Nobody understood me like she did. Nobody was close to me like she was. Becoming a Light [Healer] had been a mistake in some respects – everyone wanted to get close to me because of what I was, not who I was. Maybe some genuinely wanted to be friends, and were genuinely nice, but it just felt like a betrayal of Lyra’s memory, and a nasty part of me whispered that they just cared about how I could heal, not for me. That part of me was probably wrong, but I hurt too much to care.

Gods I was lonely. Artemis would swing by every two years or so for a week, and was due any day now. I couldn’t wait to see her again! She always had some exotic treat from somewhere in the Republic, always had a new tale of adventure. Every time she was around was magical, and she taught me so much about classes, skills, levels, and life. Her stories of adventure and traveling the land were oh so interesting to listen to, a fascinating window into the dangers that lurked about.

Don’t get me wrong, I had no desire to go on adventure myself. Hearing the tale spun, knowing the heroine herself was the one telling me? That was a different kettle of fish altogether. Since it was roughly the right time, I spent every day tuned, ready and waiting to hear the series of lightning bolts raining down by the gate that announced Artemis’s arrival into town. Why they made Rangers discharge their mana before coming into town was a mystery.

I was finally in the white zone on the road, although my physical stats and skills were low enough that I could duck into the grey zone if I wanted to. For my first class’s evolution, mom wanted me to grab something related to being a midwife. In my first major act of rebellion, I’d gotten [Light of Hope] at level 32 instead, a broad healing-class instead of a focused one. Somehow everything I had done up to the point where I was roughly 9ish qualified me to be level 54, and after a long talk with The Librarian, our best guess was talking to gods and traveling worlds was worth a lot of experience points.

My second class had unlocked once I reached level 64. [Child of Earth] had shown up again, this time with a water element. That one I had evolved into [Student], and since nobody was going to teach me how to read, I decided to seize my own destiny. When someone couldn’t pay for healing and had the right skills, I insisted that they teach me how to read for a few hours. When I had the basics down, I grabbed the [Sneak] skill, and started to break into the local library at night to read scrolls by my evolved light skill, [Flashlight]. That had started its own game of cat-and-mouse with the local guard, who wanted to catch whoever was breaking into the library. I was even chased by dad once! The library was boring in the end, since it was almost purely records – the idea of fiction existed sure, but there was no audience for books of it. The popular stories were told and retold by bards and in plays, and what few books I found were just more retellings of those stories. That realization had hurt my soul deeply, and further threw me for a loop. What was I supposed to do with my life without a huge quantity of books to consume?

I blinked, realizing I was at the river already.

"Elaine!" Septima ran up to me, giving me a big hug. I let her hug me, not really returning it.

"Septima." I responded, gently extracting myself from her grasp.

"You’re moving your dyes over, right? Here, hand that over, let me do it, it’s the least I can do." Septima insisted, gently taking my old and new tunic out of my hands. I let her. I had recently fixed her husband’s arm when it got badly broken in an accident, and they couldn’t pay much. We discussed it, and with a tiny amount of coaxing I had let her talk me into letting her do my laundry for a few weeks in exchange. Everyone won. I had slightly less to do, doing a few extra bits of laundry when you were already down at the river took no real extra effort, and Septima’s husband’s arm was properly healed in no time, letting him keep his job effortlessly. Dad’s own brush with becoming a cripple, and our entire family nearly ending up as slaves still haunted me, and I was sensitive to people put in similar spots.

That, combined with my [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] prodding me to heal everyone, had rapidly made me a healer of last resort in Aquiliea. Most people were leery of having a kid heal them, let alone a woman, but when their backs were against a wall, and they couldn’t pay for a normal healer, suddenly they managed to put that behind them. Initially, I could only help people’s natural healing along, and my low power made that not do all that much, which helped explain why light healers were so rare. My popularity had exploded once I got my [Shadow Healer] class though, and I could actually do something about disease. Getting older had helped as well. Easier when it was a teenager than a kid.

I found a spot to sit down and wait, and rapidly found myself the center of attention. [Calming Aura] and [Healer’s Aura] both had a moderate range and powerful effects, and the women and girls down by the river seemed to ascribe a lot more effects to the auras than they really had. No amount of protesting got them to change their mind – for example, they were convinced it helped with fertility and good looks when no such effect was described – but no one believed me when I said otherwise. This also put me at the center of attention, and everyone felt obligated to chat with me, as some sort of payment for benefitting off of the aura I was giving off.

I saw Flavia notice me, and came bouncing up.

"Hey Elaine! How’s it going?" I always felt happier around Flavia, but I’m not sure if that was because of her, or because of her [Happiness Aura] skill.

Flavia liked hanging out with me, and she was one of the people I thought was actually trying to be friends with me because she wanted to be friends.

"Heya Flavia. Not much, just getting ready for winter."

"Oh cool! Got your scarves all set? Doing anything special this year?"

"No, not really." I didn’t want to chat too much.

I made some polite noises, but I really didn’t want to talk. I had tried turning off my aura at one point so I wouldn’t be the center of attention, but that had gotten me so much negative attention and bullying that I decided it was safer to keep my aura up. People can be positively vicious when they decide that you’re deliberately withholding something from them, that you could just give freely. So my aura stayed on, people stayed near me, and other aura-givers like Flavia, at the river, and I was just thankful that someone else was doing some of my chores for me.

People came, people went, but there was a bit of a muttering through the crowd as Octavia came down to the river. She had a pair of black eyes, bruises on her arms, had red eyes and was shaking on her way down. She was trying to hold it together, but it was way too obvious that things were wrong.

I might not be a fan of people being around and chit chatting, but I absolutely was game to help heal someone, anywhere, any time. From the looks of it, Octavia had gotten beaten pretty badly by someone, which would probably mean the guard would get involved. Dad being a guard meant I was familiar with quite a few of them, both personally and because I’d occasionally go with them on a patrol. I got lots of exposure to people sick or injured when doing that – sometimes the guards themselves!

I started to walk over as some of the more matronly women rushed over to Octavia to comfort her. I wasn’t sure if it was their presence – after all, they had powerful skills of their own – or my aura, but Octavia calmed down, and we started to get the story out of her.

"It… it was Cornelius" Octavia finally sobbed out. Her recently-wedded husband.

"I’ve been feeling sick, feeling lousy, and I was exhausted. He didn’t want to take no for an answer. So he…" The rest didn’t need to be said. Octavia’s look at the river made the rest of the story clear.

I reached in through the crowd to tap her. [Boost Local Regeneration]. [Greater Invigorate]. [Boost Local Regeneration]. [Boost Local Regeneration]. I tapped her head, her arms, her stomach. It was times like these that I slightly regretted giving up my global regeneration boost for the aura. I had thought it would do the same thing. I hung back, and let others, like Flavia, take care of Octavia’s mental well-being. While I tried now and then, I just never clicked, I was never on the same wavelength.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 99! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 99!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 73!]

Oh, but I was hopping mad. The flames inside of me were roaring in anger, in hatred, at the person who let this happen. Octavia still had her full family around, a solid support network, Cornelius getting arrested and thrown into prison or sold into slavery wouldn’t cause a ripple effect to her. I knew just the person to talk to as well to make sure justice occurred. Dad.

The crowd around Octavia thinned down a bit, and she seemed a little bit better. Some healing, some therapy, food somehow had come out of nowhere. When you’re at rock bottom though, it’s easy to come a little bit off of that, but the trauma would last a lifetime. It would keep lasting and reoccurring as well, as long as she was married to that prick. However, this did seem like a good moment to negotiate payment. Mom had always said healing for free was a quick way for people to expect that you would always heal for free, and down that path lay madness. I had already seen some of it with people expecting my healing aura to be up all the time when I was doing laundry.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 91!]

There were benefits to keeping it up all the time in a group of people though, and the high level reflected it. I always felt bad when I had sour thoughts, and then it would level up – it indicated that yes, it was clearly working hard, and clearly having an impact, helping heal small invisible injuries. After all, if only healthy people were standing in it, nothing would ever happen. As it was, the impact was so small I could never tell, but it probably was doing something.

I started to approach Octavia, and opened my mouth when I felt a strong arm go around me, and a hand go over my mouth. I felt no fear, no malice, this wasn’t to harm me. I let myself get gently but firmly dragged back, where I was released and saw Septima.

"Elaine." She waved a finger at me menacingly. "If you dare try to charge Octavia, I will rain pyronox on you." I was pretty sure she couldn’t rain pyronox on me – everyone would know if she had the element – but the message was clear.

"But – "

"No buts Elaine! She’s just been through a disaster. No. Let this one go. Or I’ll pay for her. Just don’t kick her when she’s down. Do you think her husband’s letting her have any money if he’s doing that to her? Do you think she can fill your bounty on wind weasels? Do you think she has anything to give?"

Septima might have a very good point or five. I looked down at my feet, unable to meet her eyes.

"Fine." I conceded the point. "I can’t be healing people for free all the time though."

Septima gave me a tight smile. "Nobody’s asking you to Elaine. You heal everyone, regardless of how much or how little they can pay. We know it, we appreciate it. We try to pay what we can. Just consider Octavia someone who truly, actually, can’t pay anything, nor exchange anything." She paused for a moment.

"Your hatred of wind weasels is just plain weird, you know that right?"

I opened my mouth, starting to explain. She cut me off before I could get any steam going.

"Yeah yeah, you’ve told me before. Just lay off Octavia ok?"

When put that way, it was much more reasonable. I relaxed, and then we all jumped as lightning bolts came down by the south gate.

"What on Pallos?"

"By the gods, it happened again!"

"Our doom has arrived!"

"Damn classers!"

"Artemis!!"

Chapter 21

CATCHING UP

Feelings were clearly mixed about the lightning, but I didn’t care as I sprinted towards the south gate. The spot at the river was relatively close, although the baths were even closer to the south gate. I could run with all I had, and try to meet Artemis at the gate, or I could play it a bit safer, and go directly to the baths where I knew Artemis would spend the next few days trying to drown herself.

Screw it. It probably took her a moment to get through the guards after mostly emptying her mana pool. I was fast. I could get there in time. Navigating crowds was hard when you were short – it was all backs, backs, fronts, backs, no idea if I was about to end up in a temporary half-ring dead-end of stalls and need to back out, no idea if there was an accident ahead that would trap me. Still! Onwards! Down the main road!

Hey wait, was that Euterpe? I skidded to a halt, staring. Euterpe was a year or two older than me, training to be a guard. We had a good amount of contact as a result, and he was pretty good looking. And handsome. And cute. And – well, needless to say, I have a massive crush on him. Always butterflies when I see him. I could walk over, say hi… no, wait damnit, Artemis! Focus! Get to the gate, meet up with Artemis. Stay on task.

I carried onto the gate, with some additional butterfly companions. I got there to find only two Rangers hanging out at the gate, identifiable by their well-worn armor and eagle badges – a massive bear of a man, who could probably lift 800 pounds before the system started to enhance his strength, bow on his back, and a smaller, wiry man, weather-beaten face with several slender blades strapped to him. There was a large covered wagon with two horses and the Ranger logo on the side. They were talking with one of the guard captains, and I managed to catch the end of the conversation.

"…on the road to Virinum, right?"

"Yeah, but again, we’re not quite sure what’s going on. Whatever it is, it leaves no traces behind. We only noticed because Citizen Arotro alerted us to the problem."

Bah, boring Ranger stuff. The giant bear - I wasn’t convinced that was a human and not a shaved bear stuck in armor - seemed to be less interested in the conversation, so I poked his leg (How does a human get so damn big!?). Nothing happened. Might be all that armor. Might be that it took a year or two for a signal to get from ground to brain. I tried knocking on his armor, figuring it had a better chance of being noticed. The guards and the wiry man were still chatting, so I was being ignored.

Bear-man finally noticed me and looked down, then squatted down to be eye-level with me. He came down, and down, and down, and I had to fight a strong sense of motion sickness as my eyes insisted I had to be moving – after all, the mountain doesn’t come to Mohammad, Mohammad goes to the mountain - while my ears claimed I was standing still.

"Can I help you?" he asked, finally at a level where what I would say would reach him.

"Hi, few questions" I responded, completely unphased. Too much time around Artemis had stripped the mystique and grandeur from the Rangers, if not from Artemis herself.

"One: Which way did Artemis go? Two: How long are you staying in town? Three: How on Pallos did you get so big?"

"Ah, you must be Artemis’s little pet." he rumbled, as my mouth opened in outrage. "Baths. A week, unless we need to leave early for whatever’s on the road. Lastly, my secret." he replied, winking at me on the last one.

"I’m not-"

"You absolutely are. Small, friendly, she chats about you, brings you treats, you follow her around like a puppy – pet. Completely and totally." His voice sounded like a grinding of rocks, like boulders falling down a mountain.

I closed my mouth in outrage, and stalked off to the baths. Humph. I wasn’t a pet. I wandered over to the baths, paid my entry fee, got changed, and slipped into the baths. Ok, now to find Artemis. All of the steam made it ridiculously hard to see anyone or anything, but it was possible to hear things. It made gossiping a high-risk activity, since you never knew if the person was in and could hear you – but at the same time, it was hard to find out who was saying something about you. So, in the end, gossip abounded, with words floating over the water, steam obscuring faces. It was even possible to have a conversation with someone on the other side of the baths, and neither party knew who the other was.

"Artemis?" I called out.

"Julia?" I heard Artemis from my left and forward. I started to wade over that way – it was deep enough to swim, but not comfortably.

"Artemis?" Our strange game of Marco-Polo continued.

"Elaine!" A face from the steam. Artemis! I awkwardly leap forward to give her a huge, crushing hug. "You sound just like your mom does! Makes a lot more sense that you’d come and find me." I nodded happily. I got a good whiff of Artemis. I gagged at the stench.

"Oh gods" I cried out, falling back. "I understand now why you soak here for a few days." Artemis just chuckled at that, continuing to scrub herself, dozens of new scars crossing her arms, legs, chest, and back. Ouch. "What can I say, life on the road. Few to no luxuries, but the sights, fights, blights, slights, heights, and lights can’t be beat." I eyed Artemis suspiciously. She was no word smith.

"How long have you been working on that?" I demanded. Artemis just laughed at me, giving me a huge hug. "Way longer than I'd tell you healy-bug."

"Speaking of that! Artemis, I got my second class! I got –" *murfle murfle murfle* the rest of what I was going to say got rapidly muffled by Artemis’s hand over my mouth.

Oh no I could smell her again. I backed away gagging. "Artemis please spare me."

"Elaine, you’re not a kid anymore, you can’t just shout out your class and level in public! The baths look private but they’re not, you know that! We’ve caught criminals because the dumbasses were bragging in the baths! You have no idea who’s in here!" Artemis scolded me in a low hiss.

I sighed petulantly. She was right, but it was never clear to me why people were so private about their classes and skills. I still believed in knowledge, in writing things down, in sharing information far and wide. Earth had been that way, and was so much more advanced as a result. Sure, Earth had a few tens of thousands more years of humanity than Pallos did, but the concept remained. I was 14 though, and in no position to overhaul all of civilization. For now, I was still subject to other’s rules.

However, I did have a card to pull over Artemis. There was no need to say it, but Artemis was on even more of a hair trigger these days, and it was best to let her know that A) I was using the skill, B) what the skill was, and C) that it was harmless.

"[Privacy]." I said, wrapping us in a cocoon of privacy. It was like a gauzy curtain if you tried to look into it – or out – and it muffled most, if not all sounds. Perfect for a bit of doctor-patient confidentiality, and it helped keep my Oath happy.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at that, and poked tenderly at the walls of [Privacy].
"Neat skill. Must have evolved that [Learner] class of yours to something dark related?"

I preened at her praise. "Yeah, I got [Shadow Healer]." Artemis cocked an eyebrow at me. "Elaine, what were you doing to get [Shadow Healer]?" Ah hmm. Awkward story that. I must have looked shifty, because Artemis started to playfully grill me. One round of tickles later, and I confessed everything.

"Breaking into the library? Bold move! You know, we were asked to look into that! The guards couldn’t figure out who was doing that, they were getting worried about your motives." I started to sweat. Landing on the Ranger’s radar was Bad News. Fortunately, I felt at this point that Artemis had no real interest in harming me, and I made it abundantly clear with woodpecker-like motions that I had stopped breaking into government property.

"How did that lead to you getting [Shadow Healer]?"

"Well, I went to evolve my class, and my options were terrible. [Book Thief]. [Cat Burglar]. [High-rise work]. [Expert Sneak]. Bunch more like that! [Shadow Healer] seemed to synergize with my other healing class, and got me out of that route."

Artemis nodded seriously. "Yeah, I can see that. Puts you as a Light-and-Dark healer, and those can get some serious oomph when they grow up. Tucked away safely in a town like this, you can afford to dual-class like that. Solid move!" She lightly punched me in the shoulder. Owe. "Tell me the rest of what you have!" I told her everything about my current skills, stats, everything. If she had it all, she could help me on my path forward, and it always, always paid off massively.

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 14]

[Mana: 1990/1990]

[Mana Regen: 3909]

Stats

[Free Stats: 137]

[Strength: 10]

[Dexterity: 21]

[Vitality: 11]

[Speed: 10]

[Mana: 199]

[Mana Regeneration: 521]

[Magic Power: 204]

[Magic Control: 487]

[Class 1: [Light of Hope - Light: Lv 99]]

[Light Affinity: 99]

[Calming Aura: 96]

[Medicine: 94]

[Healing Aura: 91]

[Boost local Regen: 73]

[Flashlight: 90]

[Greater Invigorate: 96]

[Centered Mind: 88]

[Class 2: [Shadow Healer - Dark: Lv 73]]

[Dark Affinity: 69]

[Stealth: 36]

[Surgeon’s Scalpel: 63]

[Attack Bacteria: 69]

[Parasitic Remover: 35]

[Tissue Removal: 64]

[Cure Toxin: 55]

[Privacy: 67]

[Class 3: Locked]

General Skills

[Identify: 65]

[Knives: 71]

[Pretty: 90]

[Vigilant: 81]

[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 59]

[Lost and Found: 60]

[Running: 48]

[Learning: 88]

One of the many things Artemis had taught me was that you could mentally edit the layout of the status screen, along with being able to make some minor edits here and there to how things were presented. Apparently, there were some combat-related edits, but I had tuned those out. I had no plans of getting into fights. Most notably, I had changed "Regeneration" to "Regen", and re-ordered a few items here and there to make more sense.

Halfway through telling Artemis all of the skills I had, I froze in realization. Parasites were well-known, and poisons of all sorts were used with regularity – there was even a Poison element – but how was I supposed to explain bacteria? Artemis was already familiar with my [Oath] skill, and had given me all sorts of kudos for creating such a powerful skill at such a young age. I decided to just omit the skill.

"Elaine."

"Yes?"

"We’ve been over this a few times. I can count. I won’t lightning bolt you. What’s your last skill? Some sort of [Thievery] or [Sneak] skill?"

Ah right. 8 skills total for everyone, per class. Being a second class, it’d inherit old skills until I replaced them. Think. Think think. Think think think. Why not mostly the truth?

"I don’t think you’ll believe me, but – a [Cure Disease] variants."

Artemis gave me a look of extreme doubt. It probably did sound like a lie, who would hide [Cure Disease]? It was a perfectly innocuous skill.

"Must be one hell of a variant." I will say, always omitting or telling Artemis the partial truth – a lesson of dad’s ‘integrity first’ policy – really paid off, with Artemis generally believing what I told her, since she knew I would simply say nothing instead of lie. It really was a good policy to follow. "Also, I’m amazed you got [Shadow Healer] from 32 to 73 in two years – that’s pretty amazing work." I glowed under the praise.

"Alright now Elaine, either help me scrub, or shoo. I still have a few more weeks of dirt that I need to remove." Scrubbing was no fun, so I simply floated back in the water a bit, barely in sight of Artemis. That got me a mock-offended glare, but we spent the time mostly quietly, hearing the sounds of other bathers chit-chatting, and briefly, a soft moan from deeper in the baths. That got Artemis to throw a pebble in the direction of the noise, and a splash-yelp shortly followed. As sexists as things were here, same-sex relationships were completely accepted. There was no difference between them in their eyes. Sex in the public bath that everyone else was sharing though? No.

"Alright Elaine, thinking about it, you’re about to get level 100. Usually there’s a moderately strong skill waiting for you there. You’d get a massive boost if you managed to snag [Minor Restore] or something like that, and do what light healers are famed for – restoring flesh. I don’t know how healers work, but I suspect you want to look closely at your Magic Control and Magic Power stat. Get your Control up to at least 500 – it’s close enough anyways – and consider dumping the rest of your free stats into Control or Power, whichever one you think is more likely to get you [Minor Restore]. Having [Minor Restore] will also help with your next class evolution, which should be around level 128."

Finally! The end was in sight! Eye could see a way to restore dad’s vision! The way was clear! Being Artemis’s pupil paid off. Everyone "knew" that powerful light healers could restore lost or missing body parts, and we didn’t have any in Aquiliea. Occasionally one travelled around, but they were insanely expensive, and only worked in pre-paid coin. Usually by the rod. I had this sudden sinking vision of what would happen if I managed to get [Minor Restore], and still had my "heal at any price" policy. Produce. So much spare produce. No chores though, which sounded nice.

While spending all day with Artemis peacefully soaking in the baths sounded lovely, I was a prune after a few hours, and I had things to do! Food to buy, dinners to cook, and justice for Octavia. A usual afternoon.

"Hey, can I get a shot of [Invigorate]?"

Anyone else I would resent asking. It was for patients, it was for when people were down, it was for when a fight broke out and the guards needed a pick-me-up.

I went back over, tapped Artemis, giving her a full shot of [Greater Invigorate]

"Joining us for dinner?"

"Would I miss it for anything?"

More things for me to buy. With great reluctance I hugged a somewhat-cleaner Artemis, and dragged myself up and out of the baths.

Chapter 22

INJUSTICE

I went to the market to shop, the riot of colors and magical displays almost exactly like the summer. The only difference was that since it was getting colder, a large number of people had broken out colorful scarves, perfect since they could be constantly worn and re-worn. The blur of teal, green, and orange of summer were moving into more crimsons and blues, with the occasional flash of purple. More could be invested into a scarf than a tunic, since there was less material to dye, and the re-wearability improved dramatically.

Wait, shit. My tunic! I had completely forgotten it with Septima in my haste to see Artemis. Scatter-brain strikes again. Blah, I should drop all of this off at home, go down to the river, and apologize to Septima. Or go to her place and pick it up there. Argh. At least I had "Tracking down lost objects" down pat. That was even how I had gotten a skill related to it – [Lost and Found], and was deeply embarrassed at how high it was. Was probably going to get a few more levels at this rate finding my tunic. Stop leveling, damnit!

Well, if I had a bunch of running around to do, I might as well drop my shopping off at home. Why could this world not have spatial rings or something similar? No shopping carts, no rings, worst of both worlds. No fridges or anything meant that we were constantly visiting the market for the day’s food, but such was life. It was nice to get out and about, and see people.

I was on my way home, bag full, when I bumped into my favorite mango vendor.

"Hey! How are you? Health all good?" Pleasantries to start. Always be polite. I was finally tall enough to get a good view over the edge of the stall. I wasn’t seeing mangos on display, worrying.

The vendor smiled at me. "Elaine! My favorite mango-mouse! I’m doing fine, and yourself?"

I looked at him expectantly. This was our exchange; this was our ritual. Pleasant greetings. Mangos for money. Words didn’t need to be said after the initial exchange. My money was already out and on his stand.

He was looking uncomfortable for some reason though.

"Ah, bad news Elaine… no mangos today." My face fell. "There’s some sort of plague in Perinthus, no traders are leaving. And I sold the last of my stock earlier." He informed me, pushing the coins back to me.

What! This was awful! This was terrible! No mangos! Crestfallen, I left to continue home.

I got home, and yay, dad was around! He was sitting in the main room, maintaining his leather armor. I could talk with him about Octavia, and sick the guards on her husband.

"Hey dad" I called out as I dumped the groceries into the kitchen. I still felt guilty every time I saw him and his fierce-looking eyepatch, no matter how much I was reassured that it wasn’t my fault. I might be able to fix it soon though!

"Hey kiddo." Dad called back from the living room. Talking through an open door, meh, but it worked. I bustled around the kitchen getting things together.

"Did you forget something today?" Shoot. How did he know?

"Maaaaaybe why do you ask?" My poker face was terrible, glad he couldn’t see mine.

"Because Septima swung by, dropping off a pair of tunics she said were yours. Something about you vanishing mid-laundry." I swore to myself. Caught red-handed.

"Eh he, I gotta thank Septima…." I tried to deflect. "Artemis is back! Yummy dinner!" I started cooking, mostly as an excuse to trade direct verbal roasting for the more literal roasting of the kitchen. Fish soup for dinner tonight! A rich special meal, celebrating Artemis being back.

Dad was having none of that though. "You need to be more thoughtful Elaine. You can’t just be gallivanting about. You’re an adult now. You’re of a marriageable age. You need to focus."

Yeah yeah, standard losing stuff lecture #3 – wait WHAT marriageable age!?

I popped my head out of the kitchen, beloved knife still in hand from slicing up the fish. I pointed it at dad.

"What do you mean, marriageable age? I’m nowhere near old enough to be married."

"Elaine, a knife is not a toy, or a pointing tool. Put it down." Ehhh, I was annoyed at him, but he had a point. Probably had a few too many knives pointed at him in day-to-day life to be ok with it happening at home. Knife lowered.

"You turned 14 a few months ago. You’re old enough to be married off. Julia and I married when she was 14. You should start getting used to the idea."

"What, no! 14’s way too young to be married! Even 18 is pretty young!"

Dad sighed. "I’m not sure where you get these ideas. We’re not having this conversation at this time; I’m just letting you know to get the idea in your head." Softly, under his breath but not too quietly. "Everyone told me that their children rejected the idea at first."

I popped back into the kitchen, temporary truce with dad established. He didn’t want to argue about marriage, I didn’t want to get lectured about losing things. I wasn’t getting married at 14, and there was no way I was going to be "Married off." I was choosing who to marry if anyone.

"Even if it was Euterpe?" A quiet part of me whispered.

Ok, that gave me a moment’s pause. A second moment of stirring the pot.

"Yes, even if it was Euterpe. Nobody chooses for me." A bit of taste-testing of the food, a bit of seasoning, and it was time to just let things simmer for a bit. I popped back out into the living room.

"Hey dad, I heard about a problem when I was down by the river that I think you should know about." I started. I got him looking at me.

"Guard-related?"

"Guard-related." I confirmed.

"Never a moment off-duty." he complained "Ok, go on."

"Octavia came down to the river, she was assaulted, and badly beaten."

Dad paused mid-stitch, looking up at me.

"Why on earth didn’t she come to the guards!?" He asked, jumping up. "Does she know who did it? What about her husband?"

"Well, it was her husband, she said." Dad got an awkward look on his face and settled back down. Hang on, wrong direction! Up and at em! He coughed awkwardly a few times as he settled back down. My eyes narrowed. Knife was pointing again.

"Talk fast." I threatened.

"Don’t you threaten me." Dad snapped back. I held my ground. I got a deep, weary sigh of someone who had bad news to deliver, who hated the news, but was delivering it anyways and hoping the messenger wouldn’t get killed. That did seem to be a thing here interestingly enough.

He spent some more time thinking, before coming out with an answer. "You’ve been told this, but you don’t seem to really understand. The patriarch of the family – in this family, me, in Octavia’s case, her husband – has literal power of life and death over the rest of the family. I’m pretty sure Artemis showed that to you at one point, although she never confirmed. When I say ‘life and death’ it’s quite literal, and encompasses that and all the more. We can’t do anything about it. What happens in a family, stays in a family. I just don’t exercise most of that power, and you seem completely unaware of it as a result." He paused to collect himself.

I was shaking in fury. Or fear. The two were getting fairly mixed up. I took a moment to sheath my knife, my [Knives] skill helping me not nick myself from the shakes.

"Of course, the head of the family can’t ever go too far, otherwise the entire town could stop doing business with them. That’s the only real check though, and from the sound of it, I doubt anyone would stop doing business with Octavia’s husband."

Rage flowed through me, hot and angry. Flames were burning me up inside. I had no good way of expressing it, at the unfairness of it all. I let out a snarl-scream, stormed back into the kitchen, and slammed the door shut.

No way I was going to cool off here. Too hot. I slammed out of the door, and into the bedroom instead. "Stop slamming doors!" Dad yelled at me. I slammed it extra-hard. Hurmph. It wasn’t my bedroom anymore – I slept on a cot in the living room. Which was quite a luxury, as most families stayed in one giant huddle. My excuse was ‘so I could help someone that came in the night’, but that didn’t seem to hold much water. Either way, I got a cot, and everything worked out.

Mom still healed, but I was starting to outshine her, to her great delight. We had almost as many people asking for me as for her, and since she was firm on her prices, I got some of her more desperate patients. By and large though, being older, with more experience and higher levels, got her to continue to command the majority of patients.

Either way, life was harmonious, and I had cooled off a bit when I heard mom coming back home. I was vaguely thankful for dad letting me blow off some steam, and not insisting that I "properly work it out" or some nonsense like that.

I left the bedroom – carefully NOT slamming the door this time, I knew that mom had a spoon-related skill, even if she had never told me it, and caught a start of a conversation between mom and dad.

"… went well, but they’re still not – "Mom’s information was cut off by a sharp slashing motion across dad’s neck. Interesting. Where had mom been? Who could dad possibly not want listening in? Why was fastidious mom’s tunic dusty?

The gears in my head crunched for a bit, and a lightbulb went off. Me. There was some secret involving me going on here. I narrowed my eyes, and put on my best Holmes hat.

Start softly, let’s see if we can get an open confession.

"Hey mom!" Way too cheery, I should dial it back. "Welcome back. Where have you been?" Perfect! Time to find out everything! Confess villain!

"Oh, here and there, taking a walk around town, just saying hi to some of my friends, picking some stuff up at the apothecary."

Rats, a perfect deflection. Let me try pushing a bit more.

"Like who?" That got me a Look.

"Elaine, contrary to popular belief, I do have friends you know. You know what I was getting at the apothecary." Mom chastised me, hands on her hips. "It’s none of your business. I believe Artemis is coming for dinner?"

Right, Artemis! Dinner! Shit the soup! I sprinted over to the kitchen, only to find the precious ambrosia moved off the stove, onto the side.

My Holmes hat was still on. Only one person had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to save the soup. "Thanks dad!"

The sun was starting to set, and a cool breeze drifted through town as Artemis showed up at our door.

Chapter 23

LEVEL 100 I

A scene of happy chaos ensued as we all welcomed Artemis back in our own way. She was out of her armor, in a tunic, but still had the Ranger’s eagle pinned on her. Artemis laughed at us, giving us all a great big group hug. Ouch, something metal was pressing into my side. Dad, Artemis? Something of mom’s? Whatever, it didn’t matter. We were all back together again, family. Artemis’s family hadn’t made it out of whatever happened at Cow’s Crossing, and family was hard when you were constantly on the road. Whatever friendship Artemis, mom, and dad had; it had evolved into family.

We settled in for enough food to feed nine people, with four of us around the table. I looked at Artemis’s lean, athletic figure. Where did she put all that food!? Were there actually spatial rings here, and she was secretly storing it to eat later? I looked carefully. Nope, not unless that ring was inside her mouth. Every bite down the hatch.

Mom, Dad, and I were done in short order, in spite of taking our time. Artemis was still eating enough for six people, practically inhaling the food. In due time, The Devourer was finished with her meal, and we got to lazily catching up around the remains.

"What is new in Artemis-world?" I started off.

"Oh well, got to the capital and Ranger HQ, and they had a whole new team for me. We shuffle up every rotation or two, stops any one group from getting Ideas. Started with a usual team of eight, few rookies. Two of them got eaten already." A dark look passed Artemis’s face. "When the senior rangers tell you something, listen to them damnit. We’ve been in the field for years; we know what we’re talking about. Bah." As callous as Artemis seemed, it looked like the death of her teammates hit hard.

We all made some comforting noises as Artemis suddenly brightened up. "Ah but for you my little healy-bug, I got you something special." I immediately brightened up. I loved Artemis's visits, and the bribes gifts she always brought along were something I always looked forward to. It was always something cool, it was always something exotic. With great melodrama, moving like a glacier - deliberately winding me up - she reached into her bag, and took out a small, clear stone.

"For you Elaine. Happy late birthday! A small diamond that’s been treated to hold Light-skills. You can store a skill in it, and anyone can use it. Useful in a pinch, or if you have a friend you trust that you’d want to have access to a skill of yours."

I looked at Artemis wide-eyed. "How did you get this!?" Artemis looked like a cat with cream. "There miiiiiiiiiight have been a citizen who was building his own personal army. We miiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have been sent in to deal with it. He miiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have had a stockpile of goodies like this that were ‘liberated’, and a few of them miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have gotten lost. Ooops, what’s that you’ve found there?" I didn’t always pick up on hints, but this one had been clobbered into me thoroughly.

"Julia, a Lapis Lazuil, same treatment for Water. Elainus, one small ruby, Fire away!" These were princely gifts! Dad looked terrified at his though.

"Artemis, these are all, technically, contraband! They should’ve been reported back, and given to your bosses! Even I know that! How could we explain having these?"

Artemis snorted, looking around at our house. It was much nicer than it had been all those years ago when Artemis first showed up. One kid, and me pulling in something vaguely resembling money (if you got paid in fish, you didn’t need to buy fish = more money for other things) had left us cozily middle-class, pushing towards the wealth of a citizen.

"Honestly, I’m more surprised that you don’t have any at this point. But if you don’t want them, I can take them back…" Artemis leaned back, giving dad a knowing smile.

The look on dad’s face – priceless. It didn’t know what it wanted to be. Some combination of desire, of outrage, all mixed with biting into an especially sour lemon.

"Plus, Elaine did me some healing-related favors earlier, above and beyond what the local guard’s healer did. If it makes you feel any better, these could just be payment for that."

"We can’t take payment for healing a Ranger!" Dad finally found something to latch onto.

"Ah ah ah, not payment for healing a Ranger – payment from an obscenely wealthy patron who really appreciated it. Rangers get healed for free by the Army, everyone knows that. Again, above and beyond."

That seemed to finally convince dad, and he accepted his gem with a look of wonder, turning it about in his hand, looking at it from every angle. I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound, leaned over and put my hand on Artemis.

"[Greater Invigorate]." Hey, if that was Artemis’s excuse for handing out gems worth a few rods, might as well poke the money tree and see if anything else came out.

Artemis looked like she had just drunk a few cups of coffee in eight seconds (why was there no coffee here argh), which was roughly the effect of [Greater Invigorate]. She looked confused for a moment, then laughed and swatted the top of my head.

"Nice try healy-bug. Here, for effort. Last time." Saying so, she reached into her pouch, and took out a single coin. Ah well. I took it over to my money rod by my bed, and threaded it on. 50ish coins or so on it? My own, personal savings, after contributing back to the household. Almost an entire rod. I was filthy rich for a 14-year-old, extra so because it was my own hard work and not money given to me like some rich brat.

"Hey Artemis, could you do me a big favor?" Mom leaned forward, looking expectantly. I decided to store a [Greater Invigorate] in my new diamond, it was one of my most-used skills.

"Sure, what’s up?" Artemis was trying to pick food out from her teeth. It had been soup. Soup. There was nothing to pick out!

"Could you help Elaine get to level 100?"

"Sure, no problem. Kinda surprised you’re throwing Elaine at me after what happened last time." Ah yes, when I left at level 8, and came back at level 32, then shot up a ton after. Mom was still convinced that Artemis had taken me out to slay monsters with her, as much as we both protested that hadn’t happened. Her response? "I know what ‘Don’t tell your mom about this’ looks like." So it was a real surprise that she was asking Artemis to throw me to the lions.

Mom gave Artemis a dirty look promising that no, she hadn’t forgotten about last time still, and that she still had some slightly sour feelings over it all. What was going on? There was some secret, some conspiracy I wasn’t party to, which probably meant it involved me. Birthday was months ago, the summer solstice was past, and autumn equinox was too far away. Plus, none of those had anything to do with leveling.

We settled back down as Artemis regaled us with more tales of being a Ranger, while the rest of us told Artemis stories of what we’d been up to. She leaned forward when we were telling her, eagerly drinking in every word we said. It seemed strange at first, but I thought about it. Maybe tales of day-to-day living in a city was as foreign to her as tales of wandering Remus, slaying goblins was to us. That thought made me frown. I was going to make sure Artemis had the best time here on her short break. No time to waste throwing me in the wilderness to level up, Artemis needed her vacation!

Eventually, the evening ended, and Artemis vanished as usual, parents to their bedroom, and I had my bed in the living room. Perfect for sneaking out and reading books, and tonight, perfect for sneaking out and somehow getting a full level.

First of all, I should take Artemis’s advice on allocating my free stats. 108 free stats to Magic Control got me to 600 control – but dropped my power down to 191. Blasted balancing. 9 more points in power, and a final point in control got me to where I wanted. Nope! Needed another point in power. There we go. 200 Magic Power, 600 Magic Control. I knew I’d get a few more points as I leveled up, but I wasn’t always the best at thinking ahead, so I figured I’d get it done now, and avoid problems. Also, the math was a hair tricky at times, as evidenced by me needing to go back twice, and who knows if it was the stats before, or after, you leveled.

Thinking cap time. I turned on my [Flashlight] under the covers – what I wouldn’t give for a book to mimic life on earth, where I spent countless evenings with a flashlight and a book under the sheets – to start getting some teeny, tiny experience.

Right, let’s think about it. I get experience in my class by doing things. The more closely related to my class it was, the more experience I got. If I did something amazing but not in my class, that could also get enough experience to level up. For example, the world-hopping at the start of my life seemed to qualify. The more dangerous, tricky, or difficult it is, combined with how much effort I put in and how hard it seems to be, all impacted experience. This [Flashlight] was extremely easy, wasn’t really in my class, and I was in no danger. Hence, practically no experience.

Hang on, it was chewing through my mana slowly though. My regeneration was through the roof – I’d go from out of mana to fully recharged in about 30 minutes. Should I turn it off? Yeah, why not, less likely to keep mom and dad up, keeps me fully topped up for anything else I need to do.

Right, thinking cap. Focus Elaine. Gotta hit 100 tonight, give Artemis a well-deserved break. Let’s think about location.

I’m stuck in town because the gates close at night, and nobody goes in or out without a really good reason. I suspect the guards would take a dim view of me going out to try and find some experience. Who would I even heal outside? Myself? "Yes Mr. Wolf, if you could just chew gently on my arm so I can get some experience healing, that’d be great!". Somehow, I didn’t think it would quite end that way.

Sneaking onto a boat might be a good idea if I planned to leave town and never come back. Who knew if I’d even get to a shore before next week! Completely useless.

Right, so I needed to be in-town. There were no real monsters in town. Sure, I could try to find a wind-bastard or two, but they didn’t show up at nighttime, and their population was at an all-time low. Slimes were in the town’s sewers, and I’d be damned before voluntarily going in there. It stank! The slimes weren’t super high level either, but it would be fighting and give more experience. I tabled that thought for "in case of emergency, enter sewers." So that left trying to find human trouble.

Human trouble was bad news for a few different reasons. First, a human would beat me up no trouble. I didn’t want to get beaten up, for so many obvious reasons. I suppose asking someone to artfully punch me so I’d have places to heal might have some merit, although nobody I’d find at this time of night I’d remotely trust to do that. I needed to find trouble that other people were involved in, that wouldn’t get me dragged into, so I could heal everyone involved after. Problem was, the guards were all over the place, and would… find… any… problem….

The Guards! I was well-known to them, they wouldn’t think twice about me being around, they found trouble, I could be protected, they’d be happy to have me around, it was perfect! I wasn’t glued to dad’s side when he was out and I was helping, so they’d think nothing of me being around without him, and who kept track of everyone’s schedule anyways?

Chapter 24

LEVEL 100 II

Plan in mind, I quietly got up and strained my ears. It hadn’t been that long since we went to bed, and mom and dad might still be awake. If they got up and found me gone, I’d be in a world of trouble and hurt. Mom’s skills with her spoon had only grown with age, and there was no way dad would let me see Artemis after I got caught sneaking out.

I carefully sneaked across the room, dodging the table, putting each foot down carefully. Bless the [Stealth] skill, it had gotten me out of here more times than I could count.

The sound of distant voices from my parent’s room made me freeze, then whirl around and dive back into bed. I threw the covers over me, and pretended to be asleep, just incase. What I wouldn’t give for an acting skill right no –

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Acting]!]

Chance! I reviewed my skills. Turns out, I wouldn’t give up any of my skills for acting right now. Welp. That’s what I get for tempting the System. The noise from my parent’s room died down – maybe it was just a bit of chatting before sleep – and I waited, heart pounding in my ears, for another 15 minutes or so. Alright, they seemed to be asleep. Ninja time!

I got up, and step by careful step, pausing at each to listen to the creaking wood, the gentle breeze, and for any sign of parental knowledge, I got to the door, and slipped out. Freedom! I started walking away slowly, a thief in the night, and as I left home in the distance, picked up my pace.

It was one of those beautiful late summer nights that drive the bards wild, that stoke the imagination. A warm breeze flowed through town, bringing the scent of the ocean. The stars practically spelt the word "Romance", and it was a blessed double new moon. I clutched my pendant for luck, and strode towards the guard barracks like I belonged.

I bumped into Catonus of all people, out on patrol with another guardsman, Polyphemus.

"Catonus! My fourth-favorite guard!" I excitedly called out to him.

"Fourth favorite!? What do you mean?" Catonus protested. Polyphemus was more on point. "Elaine. Is there a problem?" He turned and walked towards me, eyes lasering in on me. People generally only called out to the guards when they had a problem, doubly so late at night.

"Nope!" I cheerfully walked over. "Mind if I tag along on your patrol?"

Catonus and Polyphemus looked at each other, and like they were in a mirror, shrugged at the same time. "Sure, why not."

I jumped in the air; hands up high. "Hurray!"

I scurried over to them, tapping both on the arm, giving them a shot of [Greater Invigorate]. 1600/2000 mana left. Ah well, it’ll recover fast.

"Whoof. That’s getting pretty strong, Elaine! How high is your magic power?" Catonus asked, starting to walk down the street with Polyphemus, with me in tow.

"200! I put some points in today for it!"

Polyphemus raised an eyebrow at that. "Power healer?" he asked.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Control healer!"

"Physical stats?"

I got an awkward look on my face.

"Elaine, please don’t tell me that you’re sub-50 on any of your physical stats." Polyphemus asked rhetorically. I was sub-20 on all of them. It must have shown on my face.

"Look, I know you want to be a healer, and there isn’t a guard that’s not grateful to you. But you can’t go through life with no physical stats! You spend your day moving your body, it’s what you do all the time! Skills are only used now and then; your body is used constantly! Please, please listen to me and put some points in your physical stats."

Polyphemus was famous for being the trainer for all of the guards, one of the highest-leveled guards in town. His advice on levels, classes, and stats were considered some of the best, and getting his advice, for free, was quite a boon. However, he was a guard trainer. If I listened to him, I’d end up being the best female guard the town had ever seen. I’d probably also not be able to find a job, unless I got lucky and was hired as a bodyguard for some rich citizen’s wife.

At least, I assumed there was a job of some sort there. Hence my problem with listening to Polyphemus’s advice. Artemis was who I took advice from. If one day I grew up to be Artemis but-not-the-murder-part that’d be great! Day-dreaming (night-dreaming?), I noticed I was starting to fall behind. Drat! Gotta catch up.

"Hey Catonus, want me to use [Flashlight]?" I demonstrated the sweeping bright beam, showing off the fine-tuned spotlight to the wide-ranging glare.

"Sure! Why didn’t you use this earlier?" Catonus gave me a puzzled look. Whoops. I had been keeping [Flashlight] under wraps before, and only using it to sneak into the library. Ah well, I wasn’t doing that anymore, and the genie was out of the bottle already. Might as well be useful, and stick around more. I debated saying it was a new skill, which, in a sense it was. New to public use, new a few years ago…

"New skill!"

It had been a long day, and doing a full night patrol was getting me yawning. Nothing was happening. I was concerned that I had screwed up, and I’d just end up thrown into the wild with Artemis tomorrow massively sleep deprived, when a cry of "Fire! Fire!" came up.

We all perked up at that – the cry wasn’t too far away, in the richer district where citizens lived. Catonus and Polyphemus were off like a shot, and I pushed myself as hard as I could, [Running] giving wind to my legs and [Flashlight] ensuring a clear path. I was still slower than the guards. A gentle red glow lit the sky, warmth belying its lethal nature. I rounded one last corner to find a rich, sprawling house with hungry flames licking at the structure, greedily devouring the building.

There was a heated argument in front of the building. A full brigade of men with buckets of sand and water were in front of the building, and more were rapidly forming a line to the river. A man I could only assume was the leader of the fire brigade was having an argument with a disheveled man. A woman and a few other people behind them were trying to organize their own water brigade, but it was a meager effort. I guessed these were the occupants of the house – the master of the house’s family, and a few slaves they owned. I caught the tail end of the argument.

"… won’t sell. No way." The master of the house stated.

"The longer you wait, the lower the price. We’re now only offering 360 silver rods for the house and the land." Brigade-leader responded.

"Why can’t we just pay you to put the fire out?" Master of the house argued back, throwing his hands up in the air.

"It’s not the way we work. 355 rods." Brigade-leader was cold. Prick. Letting someone’s house and livelihood burn down, extorting them. I had no doubt that they’d stand there with a full brigade, and happily watch everything burn down. Catonus and Polyphemus were watching, hands on baton, ready to handle things if they got violent – but not stepping in and making the brigade do their work. Bastards, the lot of them.

A brief lull in the argument happened as someone I had mentally labeled "The Wife" tugged on her husband’s arm, and started to fiercely whisper in his ear. I heard a far-off sound, like a call, a cry for help. Wait. That was a cry for help.

I ran up to Polyphemus, and got his attention.

"Hey, it sounds like someone’s still in there!" I said, practically stumbling over my words. "You need to do something!"

"Yeah, they mentioned there might be a slave or two still inside." Polyphemus didn’t even bother looking at me, fingers still drumming on his baton.

"You need to save him!" I insisted.

"I’m not running into a burning building. Sorry Elaine, but no, it’s not worth the risk for a slave. Maybe if they negotiate fast enough, the fire will be out in time to save them. I wouldn’t hold my breath though, Sethos is a stubborn git." I knew a dismissal when I heard one.

I heard the cry for help again, stronger, the prior note of fear turning into one of terror. Was nobody really going to do anything? Nothing at all was being done? Nobody cared? We were all just going to listen to this kid burn to death?

No. If nobody else was going to do it, I wasn’t going to stand by and say "Well, nobody else helped, so I wasn’t going to help either. Not my fault." I had to do something. I had to try. I was terrified. I had to look at the fire. I had to see the heart of the fire, face my fear, let it wash over and through me. I could turn my inner eye, see the path it has taken, and only I would be there.

Checklist time. If I rushed this, we’d both die. Something for my mouth, stop the smoke. Water in general, keep everything wet. I had [Flashlight] to help me see. I could hear where he was. I had no idea of the layout. I had no idea what was burning. 1355/2000 mana left. Why did I Invigorate so much this evening? My regeneration was insane, but that was practically nothing. I tore a strip off my tunic, nobody paid me any attention. Wrapped it around my mouth, heart beating a million miles an hour. I was hyperventilating. I had a half-baked plan. I sent a quick prayer to Papilion, wishing for safety. 1344 mana left. Not the time for this.

I steeled myself. I stalled. If I didn’t go now I never would. I moved like the wind, rushing to one of the bucket brigade members with a bucket of water. I grabbed, lifted, thanked my strength for being enough for a bucket of water at least, poured it over me. Ignored the cries of protest. Dodged a grasping hand, dove through the front door.

Not burning here. Good. Deeper in. Flames. Burning. A closed door. An open door. A door with flames. Crouched over I ran further in, straining my ears, listening for a desperate cry. There, a yell. I turned, went through the open door. Flames to my left. Nothing to my right. Heat all around. I took a deep breath to yell. Mistake. Smoke. Coughing fit, bent over, heat getting to me. We can’t both die. I yell something. I don’t know what. A responding yell. Through another doorway. Flames in this door. I ran with every ounce of speed I have. A notification goes off. I disable notifications. Mouth dry. Useless rag.

Up to the door, burning beam on the ground. I jump over it. Land, stumble, fall to the ground. Cough, so much smoke. Realize my tunic caught on fire. Oh gods I’m on fire, I’m going to die. [Boost local Regen]. Centered Mind kicks in. Don’t heal. Won’t help. Stop the fire, stop drop and roll. Obey. Hyperventilating. Only alive because I’m on the floor. Breathing high up is death. Conflagration blazing.

A shriek of panic. Close. I see him. Four, maybe five. Too young. Room only has one door. Flames in the door. Burning beams above. I call out reassurance. No idea what I said. I start to run through the door. A mighty crack. I lose my nerve. I stop. Burning beam falls. Lands on kid. No time to think. Only act. I move, finding myself next to the kid. Arm pinned under burning beam. Strength too low. [Surgeon's Scalpel]. What to use as my Scalpel? Have nothing. No knife. Side of my hand. I slice down, large gouge of flesh gone. Arm still attached. Bone in the way. [Tissue Removal]. Slice down twice more. Messy. Better than dead. [Boost Local Regen]. Stops bleeding. Pick up unconscious boy. Smoke problem. I try to run, and stumble. No mana left. Use Arcanite. No knife. Fuck. Stumble through the first fire, legs cooking. Fall in agony, kid falls. We’re going to die. I can’t move. Death by inferno.

[Oath] pulses. My pledge. My promise. My vow. Must protect. Must heal. Must live. Found strength. Lifted, onto shoulders. Ran. So dark. Smoke hiding everything. No [Flashlight]. Wrong door. Trip on a chair. Wrong door. Right door. Exit behind flames. No choice. Through the flames, screaming, crying. Collapsed outside. Kid landed hard. Not moving. Not breathing. Cries of alarm, cries of amazement. Cold water pouring on me, screams ripped from my throat as it met hot elastic flesh. Catonus and Polyphemus kneeling protectively over me. Not me, I didn’t need it, save the kid. I remembered Artemis’s gift. Remembering earlier would have helped, it would have given me the extra burst needed inside. Sobbing and cries, from me, from the pain which just now hit. Used the gem. Gave myself mana. Everything on the kid looked bad. What part do I heal? Where can I help?

His arm, inexpertly hacked off? His head, matted in ashy blood? His legs and back and chest, all coated in burns of different sorts? Why was there so much yelling around me? Would it kill them to shut up? Thank goodness for passives, [Calming Aura] and [Centered Mind]. I’d be paralyzed without them. No, had to be his lungs. I didn’t have enough mana for a full shot of healing, and it only helped the body, it didn’t work miracles. Used my skill, and with nothing left to do, nothing left to give, I let darkness claim me.

Chapter 25

LEVEL 100 III

I gradually woke up to agony. Nails in my head. A deep, throbbing pain from the rest of my body. It was like feeling it through layers of gauze, through a deep haze. I tried to say something. All that happened was an unintelligible raspy groan came out from my lips. So dry. A cool wooden cup was pressed to my lips, water gently flowing into my mouth. Water. I tried to swallow, throat was too dry and smoky for it to go down. Painful expansion of my throat as it went down, and a brief rush of relief as I felt it hit. I greedily drank more, and felt enough gumption to try and open my eyes a hair.

The light, it burns! I closed my eyes, moaning in pain. "She’s awake!" I heard a female voice cry out, a spike of pain going through my ears. I wanted to drift back off, but there was too much noise, too much going on. A hand touched my shoulder, and a male voice spoke out, letting me know what was happening. "[Remove Pain]. [Minor Heal]. [Hydrate]."

My pain stopped being so distracting. I could still tell it was there, but it was more of a ‘Hey I’m here’ than an all-consuming beast eating away at my sanity. The intensity went down as well, I was unsure if it was from the pain or the heal. Lastly, I just felt globally better, as I was magically re-hydrated. It did nothing for my throat, but did wonders for how I was feeling.

No longer wishing for oblivion to reclaim me, I rejoined the land of the living and awake, slowly cracking my eyes open. Meditacus, the guard’s healer, was stepping back. I assumed he was responsible for the latest round of healing. Artemis was sitting next to me, face a fresco of worry, holding a wooden cup. Probably water. Mom was in the corner on a recliner, fast asleep, somehow looking exhausted even in sleep.

"Elaine, are you ok?" Artemis leaned over; eyebrows knitted.

I tried to give some response. A groan left my lips. Artemis seemed reassured by it though, because if getting burnt by fire wasn’t enough, she decided to verbally roast me as well.

"Look, I know you have [Pretty], but you went a bit too far to be hot, you know?" Oh no, the jokes were starting. She had no mercy when dad lost his eye, it looked like I was going to get no mercy either. Flames, why couldn’t you have done your job properly? "I know you wanted to be warm for the rest of your life, but find a different way!" I groaned again, this time at the terrible puns. Artemis clearly was fluent in groan, and her face lit up like the sun. Anyone who could complain about bad jokes was A-OK and going to live in Artemis’s book.

All of these bad jokes woke mom up, and she rushed over to my side. Artemis quietly made her way out of the room, discreetly wiping at her face. Mom’s eyes were moist, ready to overflow, she moved her hands as if to cup my face, but paused and hovered them just an inch away as she asked the same thing Artemis did.

"Yeah" I croaked out, not recognizing the sound of my own voice. Even speaking was too much on my poor lungs, as I triggered a coughing fit.

"Shhh shhh don’t say anything" Mom tried to soothe me, looking like she wanted to hug me but didn’t dare touch me. I glanced down, seeing The Mummy re-emerged in clean white bandages all over me. We both jumped as a massive thunderclap came from directly outside. My pain-sense spiked, and if it wasn’t for the pain deadening, I know I would’ve been screaming. Artemis came back, looking smug as a bug, but wilted under mom’s glare.

"She needs rest! Peace and quiet! Not you throwing around lightning bolts!" Mom hissed at Artemis, the urge to yell tempered by wanting to keep things quiet near me. Artemis bowed her head at that, then glanced over at me. I couldn’t help myself – Artemis looking like a scolded puppy was just too funny, and I let a few laughs escape. Followed by a coughing fit, pain-sense spiking again. I could do some real damage to myself if I completely ignored this pain sense.

A flash of pity went over Artemis’s face, and that combined with mom’s general hesitance finally made me realize something was up.

"What’s wrong?" I gasped out.

"Nothing!" Too fast. Almost rehearsed.

"Artemis, tell me what’s wrong or I swear I’ll learn mom’s spoon skills." I choked out. Only thing I’d ever seen that did anything to Artemis. No idea if I could learn them, but they seemed handy. Artemis didn’t even have the good grace to pretend to be scared, she just exchanged a look with mom. Lots of head ticking, like a language of their own, developed in childhood. Mom took a deep breath, and turned to me.

"Ok Elaine, please don’t freak out." One phrase guaranteed to make anyone freak out. "The burns are pretty bad. A lot of your skin and flesh melted and fused. We did the best we could, but the priority was saving your life. You’re going to have some really bad scarring all over, including your face."

No. No no no no. They just wanted to wind me up, to make me feel bad. I looked down at my body, completely wrapped in bandages. I started to desperately claw at them. I needed to see. I needed to know. Mom intercepted one hand, Artemis intercepted the other. I struggled, futile. My strength was nothing compared to theirs.

"I need to see let me see please." I sobbed out, drowning in desperation.

"Ok, Ok" mom reassured me, saying anything to get me to calm down. She slowly started to unravel the bandages on my leg. Dad popped his head in, dressed for patrol. "Is Elaine ok – you’re awake!" He rushed over, was about to give me a hug when he read the mood in the room. Discretion was the better part of valor, and he backed up to watch what was going on.

My leg looked like it had been dipped in acid or something, which wasn’t too far off from the truth. I didn’t bother looking anymore. I didn’t want to see more of my ruined body. I let tears roll down from my eyes as dad tried to comfort me.

"If it makes you feel any better, you saved that kid’s life. He made it out, he’s going to be ok. He’s a room over, recovering like you."

It was nice to know, I appreciated the attempt to distract me, but it wasn’t going to fix me. I closed my eyes, and let darkness take me again.

I woke up the next day to see mom by my side. After some simple daily tasks – that were no longer simple – a thought occurred to me.

"Hey mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do I need to rest and heal? Why aren’t magic and skills just fixing me?"

Mom shook a finger at me. "If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a dozen times. Speeding up someone’s natural healing uses the body’s own resources. Most of the injuries you’re dealing with are small-scale – a broken bone’s probably the biggest thing you’ve fixed. What happened to you is on a completely different scale. You almost died! We almost lost you! Promise you won’t do anything that dangerous again!" Tears were streaming down mom’s face. I looked away guiltily.

"I promise." Mom seemed mollified at that.

A few days passed. I’d wake up, ravenous, and mom or Artemis would be there with some food to feed me, one spoonful at a time as I couldn’t move my arms properly, or hold a spoon. I used my [Boost Local Regen] as often as I could on various parts, hoping to speed things up. My [Healing Aura] was putting in some serious work as well.

Euterpe dropped by one day, and I sat up, excited, heart pounding, butterfly convention in my stomach. He walked in, and the look on his face was like he’d seen the biggest, ugliest cockroach ever. He looked away, muttering some excuse about "wrong room", and I just felt my heart drop out, a cavity in my chest filled with sorrow.

Crush. Officially. Over.

Later that day, I overheard some guards chatting. Apparently, Octavia had taken matters into her own hands, and the guards now had a brutal murder-suicide to clean up after. I nodded in approval, but grimaced that it was the best option for her. Nobody would help her get justice, the ‘proper’ route had been tried and failed, so she’d taken matters into her own hands.

I woke up one day to find nobody waiting for me, but a fierce argument coming from the other side of the door.

"I know we need to go, but she’s the closest thing to family I have left!" Mysterious voice 1 said.

"We’re supposed to get moving tomorrow though." Mysterious voice 2.

"Come on, don’t you want to see how she turns out?" Mysterious voice 3.

"Braver than half the Rangers I’ve seen. That background check was for her?" Mysterious voice 4.

"Yes, and comparing anyone’s bravery to Arthur is just plain unfair." Mysterious voice 1. Hoots and jeers accompanied that remark.

"Let’s stay a few more days, we can make it up later." Mysterious voice 3.

"You just want to get your stick wet." Mysterious voice 1, who I suspected was Artemis with her acidic tongue.

"Hey! They need me. And do you want my help with this or not!" Mysterious voice 3.

"Fine, fine, we’ll wait a bit longer. But not too much!" Voice 2 said. Cheers all about. Artemis poked her head in the room, and looked slightly put off. "Whoops, didn’t mean to wake you up." She said, moving into the room. "What possessed you to dive into a burning building anyways?" Artemis asked, sitting down nearby.

"I heard a kid screaming for help. Nobody else would do anything. I figured, ‘why not me?’. I couldn’t exactly complain that nobody else was doing something when I wouldn’t do something."

That got an arched eyebrow from Artemis. "Wow. Sure you don’t have a [Fire Rescuer] class or something?"

I stuck my tongue out at her, only real revenge I could extract. "Nope! Healer life for me! Although," bitterness unintentionally lancing my voice, "it seems like I’m only good as an aura right now."

"Ah cheer up, you’ll be fine. You’ll be sneaking around to see boys at night again in no time!"

"I wasn’t out to see a boy!" I protested.

Artemis gave a highly amused noise of disbelief. "I remember being your age. Boys boys boys. Unless it was a girl?" I gave a small shriek of outrage.

"I wanted to hit level 100! So your vacation wouldn’t be stopped by needing to train me!" Artemis looked like she’d gotten a taste of her own element. Lip quivering, she quickly stood up and turned away from me so I couldn’t see her face.

"You dumbass! I was so worried about you! I want to spend time with you! Being here, with you and Julia and Elainus is my vacation!" Artemis couldn’t hide the happy crying she was doing. "Did you at least get 100?"

"No" I pouted. "I haven’t gotten a single notification since I woke up either."

Artemis turned around, wiping her face. "Wow, I’d expect a half dozen levels in your class and 20+ skill levels for that. You didn’t disable notifications or something?"

The look on my face must have been priceless, because Artemis bent over, wheezing and laughing, pointing at my face. Great guffaws of laughter, howling roars of mirth. Oh come on now, it couldn’t be that funny now, could it?

"Alright, alright, fine, I’ll turn them back on. Ready?"

"Ready!"

I mentally turned notifications back on, and braced myself as I got machine-gun-fire speed notifications.

Chapter 26

LEVEL 100 IV

Notifications streamed past me, too fast to follow.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 89!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 90!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 89!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 49!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 95!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 50!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 97!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 51!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 82!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 52!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 90!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 53!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Flashlight] has reached level 91!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 54!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 74!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 91!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Surgeon’s Scalpel] has reached level 64!]

….

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Surgeon’s Scalpel] has reached level 78!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 64!]

….

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 75!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 75!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 76!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 77!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 78!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 60!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 61!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 62!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 63!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 79!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 74! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 75! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 76! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 77! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 78! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 100! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 101! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 102! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 103! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 103!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 78!]

[*ding!* For reaching level 100, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Detailed Restoration]!] Through thick and thin, through fire and flames, you’re there to heal people, regardless of their situation. With this skill, you can even help restore the bodies of people you were just a bit late to reach. Increased efficiency, increased details in restoration per level.

[Notice: You already have 8 Class Skills. Remove one for [Detailed Restoration]?]

My eyes went wide as saucers as I saw the notifications stream in front of me.

"Good stuff?" Artemis asked. I mutely nodded, still stunned at the notices, trying to process them all. "Whatcha get for your level 100 skill?"

"[Detailed Restoration]." Artemis gave a long low whistle at that.

"It’s your choice, but I’d lose [Boost Local Regeneration] for that skill. They overlap function, but the restoration flat-out brings it back, while the regeneration takes time, and just helps the body along. [Flashlight] is the other option, but it’s useful enough that I’d keep it."

I thought about what Artemis said. Made a lot of sense, even from someone who claimed to know nothing about healing stuff. It was a good thing I was lying down as I prepared to remove my [Boost Local Regeneration] skill. Losing a low-level skill was a breeze. Losing a high-level skill (as "high level" as level 78 was) was much more painful. I chose to take [Detailed Restoration], and shivered, spasmed, and sweated as I lost my [Boost Local Regeneration].

As I felt the skill slide in, Artemis asked about my [Shadow Healer] class, and if I had gotten anything for it. I shook my head, feeling nauseous. Artemis grinned at me.

"Hey, guess what healy-bug?"

"What?"

"You’re going to have the most perfect skin with [Detailed Restoration]."

I looked at her hurt and puzzled. I was just getting used to the idea of being the elephant girl. Artemis rolled her eyes at me.

"You have [Tissue Removal] and [Detailed Restoration]. That’s classic for scar removal. You can fix yourself, and you can fix the kid’s arm, your dad’s eye, and any number of injuries. Sure, some might take you time, but you can do it. Congratulations!" Artemis said, throwing her hands up. "You’re about to become one of the most popular healers in Aquiliea!"

My eyes went wide. I didn’t think I’d reach this goal so soon, so easily. I looked down at my body, now with just a simple tunic, ruined limbs staring back at me. Well, maybe not easily. I focused on my left hand, the furthest limb, the one I could most afford to have a problem with if this went wrong. I then focused on my left pinky, and took several deep, steadying breaths. I could do this. I can do this. Breath in, breath out, don’t lose focus, [Tissue Removal]. I screamed as my finger detached and dropped off, instinctively reaching out for [Boost Local Regen]. Nothing there. [Centered Mind] kicked in, reminding me what the plan was. [Detailed Restoration]. A lump of flesh vaguely resembling a finger ended up on my hand.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 2!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 3!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 4!]

Four men and the man-bear burst into the room, weapons drawn, eyes scanning for threats. Seeing Artemis looking unconcerned, and me stuck in bed, clearly terribly injured and no threat to anyone, weapons were put back. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Come on, what did you think was happening? Do you really think I scream like that? Or that anyone could threaten her while I was here?" Artemis shook her head. "I suppose introductions are in order."

Chapter 27

THE RANGER SQUAD

"Everyone, this is Elaine. Elaine’s the kid of my best friends growing up, a dual-classed Light and Dark healer, and the bravest girl I know. Also the culprit of the library break-ins we were asked to look into. Don’t worry, she just wanted to read, for fun. Elaine, this is my squad, the rest of the Rangers I gallivant and goof off with." The wiry man from earlier punched Artemis in the shoulder for that remark.

"Alright, alright, fine, proper introductions. First off is our fearless leader, Julius." She started, lightly punching the wiry man right back. "He’s stupidly fast, and incredible with light blades in a fight. He also can’t stop picking his nose, and continues to insist he does not have a bad luck curse placed on him. Don’t worry Julius," Artemis turned to speak to Julius "we don’t judge you for your bad luck, we judge you for not telling us what the curse is called." Julius rolled his eyes at Artemis, then turned and delicately shook my hand.

[Identify] showed him as [Leader].

"Charmed to meet you" he started off, and I recognized him as Mysterious Voice 2. "I’m sure you’ll be a credit to the Republic with your skill and bravery." I had to look away, cheeks flushing from the praise. I wasn’t that brave or good! I was just doing what needed to be done.

"Alrighty, next we have mountain-man, also called Arthur." Artemis carried on. Glad to see I wasn’t the only one thinking he was ridiculously sized. "We met at the gate!" I said "He told me where you were."

I decided to [Identify] him, and got back [Ranger]. Seemed a bit on the nose.

Arthur grunted. "Glad to formally meet Artemis’s little pet." A spark flew from Artemis to Arthur, causing a zapping noise and a yelp of protest as he jumped up. Artemis carried on like nothing happened. "Don’t let his size fool you. He’s insanely sneaky in the wilderness. Materializes outta thin air. Also, in spite of being the most perfect physical specimen I’ve ever seen, won’t fight hand to hand. Uses a bow and poisons." That got an unhappy reprimand from Julius.

"Artemis, I’m all for introductions, but don’t tell people how we fight. How would you like it if I went around telling people you were a Lightning and Earth mage, and you last about three seconds in a fight?"

Artemis looked furious at that, the hypocrisy of it completely going over her head.

"Carry on Artemis, we don’t have all day." I could see why Julius was the boss – he could actually keep Artemis on the straight and narrow! I nodded approvingly to myself.

"This here is Kallisto" Artemis carried on, pointing to a man who looked like he’d stepped out of every standard hero novel, play, and movie ever made. Heroic face. Heroic eyes. Heroic hair. Somehow managed to capitalize the word Heroic, was the very epitome of the idea.

[Warrior]

"Charmed to meet you." Kallisto said, taking my hand and pressing a delicate kiss to the back. That got him swatted by Artemis, and I recognized Mysterious Voice 3.

"She’s off-limits for way too many reasons." Artemis growled threateningly at Kallisto.

"I was just being friendly! I never know when I’ll need a healer!" He tried to protest. Julius threw him a look, and he wilted. My respect for Julius was rapidly going up – just how good was someone that could keep this merry band of misfit Classers in line?

"Kallisto is our resident heavy front-line fighter. Takes the brunt of just about anything and everything that’s thrown at us. In spite of his stunning good looks – or maybe because of them" At this Artemis waggled her eyebrows "He’s somehow sneaky inside of towns, able to get into just about any room or place he wants to. Also our resident gossip. Sometimes good, sometimes he leaks our attempt to be incognito to every single person in three bars and four brothels." That last statement got him a dirty look from everyone. Got it. No secrets for Kallisto.

"Over here we have Origen. From the city-state of Laconia, the only place in the Republic that’s technically an ally of the Republic, not actually in the Republic. Not that anyone else besides people from Laconia care about that. Getting words out of him is as hard as dislodging a Senator. Our resident Inscriptionist, he made the water bottle from earlier, and maintains our enchantments, whips up new ones on-demand, and breaks curses. Tattoos himself after every fight and mission." Origen just shook my hand and nodded. He had the strong silent type down pat, and was covered in intricate tattoos, including his bald head. It seemed hard to imagine that he had room for many more tattoos. A long, braided beard completed the odd look.

[Artisan]

"Lastly, we have Maximus" Artemis started to introduce a man I could only describe as a bland not-person. It was like he had the ideal body type to be an assassin. 10 iron coins he was an assassin. "He seems incapable of sticking to the same weapon twice in a row, and will generally have the most impractical weapon you can think of. Once brought one of those hefty fishing rods and entered the colosseum with it. Obsessed with the System – feel free to pump him for knowledge, most of what I pass to you I got from him. Careful though! He’ll ask you a thousand questions back."

[Warrior]

Maximus walked up to shake my hand. "A fellow seeker of knowledge! I heard you have a self-created skill! I’d love to learn all about it!" With the manic gleam in his eye, I figured it was best for my self-preservation if I gave him the information.

"Basically, I made a promise, and the skill came off of that promise. It goes up when I follow it, and down when I don’t."

"Thanks! You should practice restoring other people’s bodies before working on your own. Also, this might be obvious, but see if you can get someone to block pain for you when working on yourself." Solid advice from Maximus!

"Anyways, this is the band of merry misfits that somehow are blessed by the government with the name Ranger Team 4!" Artemis ended her show-and-tell session.

We spent some time chatting, and by that, I mean the lean mean Ranger machine spent time chatting while I looked on in awe. Eventually they ran out of things to discuss, and went their separate ways.

With another day of building my strength back up, I could finally get up and out of bed, and start walking around. A second day, and I felt like I could start on my first real healing project – healing Themis’s arm. I saved him, I started to heal him, and I needed to finish the job.

I got out of bed with some help from mom, who was going to be on pain management for my first real effort into limb restoration. To my great disgust, Sethos had decided to give Themis to us. Apparently, it made him look less bad if I had rushed in to save my family's slave, instead of rescuing one of his, and he didn’t think Themis would be worth money anymore. Prick.

I tried to convince dad to free Themis, but he just said that it’d mean Themis would starve. "Charity" and "Orphanages" weren’t really a concept here, and it infuriated me. Still, I would do whatever I could to give him a better life, and step one was getting his arm back.

We entered into Themis’s room, and a knife went through my heart as he saw me, wrinkled his nose, and flinched back. Ouch. I knew my face looked like a melted candle, but this was a bit much.

I approached his bed, and as cheerfully as I could muster, I checked in with him.

"Hey Themis! How are you doing today?" I got the cold shoulder – the empty sleeve driving another knife into my heart - in return as he looked away. Yikes. From the mouth of babes comes truth. U-G-L-Y I ain’t got no alibi.

Mom had experience with kids though, and was taking no prisoners. She grabbed his ear and twisted.

"Now listen. Elaine here dove into the fire to save your life. She’s now here to restore your arm, for free. The least you can do is be grateful! Stop giving her a hard time, and cooperate." To my amazement, I got some mute nodding in response.

"Ready Elaine?" I reviewed the plan in my head. Satisfied that we had a plan, we started. Step 0: Disable notifications until the end. I wonder if I could make this automatically turn on and off.

It started off fine. Mom deadened Themis’s sense of pain, I removed the scarring on his arm with [Tissue Removal]. We had thought there’d be some bleeding, but we weren’t prepared for the sheer amount that started to come out of his arm. I got my first [Detailed Restoration] off, and was waiting a second for it to cooldown when Themis freaked out. He started yelling and screaming and floundering all over, which caused blood to paint the entire room, which caused him to scream and thrash more. Instead of a thin, meek kid it was now like trying to hold onto a blood-soaked pig hellbent on escaping. Somehow, we managed to get a grip on him, awkward tangle on the floor, as I got off two more [Detailed Restoration] to fix his hand.

We got up slowly, carefully. Our footing was unsure, and I had just barely been allowed off of bedrest – I was in no position to be wrestling. I felt aches and pains all over, and my eyebrows shot off of my face into the ceiling as mom touched Themis and said, mostly for my benefit, [Lesser Tides of Blood].

My mouth felt awful, so I spat, bright red blood coming out. I blanched at the result, stuck my tongue out, and spat a bunch more onto the floor until it stopped being so red. I really hoped blood-borne diseases weren’t a common thing here. I looked at mom, and opened my mouth to ask her about that skill of hers, when she held up her hand, forestalling any questions.

"Don’t ask right now, later." Her wisdom was proven when a few guards, attracted by the noise, poke their head in, turning pale at the sight of the red room, hands reaching for their batons.

Mom put her hands up. "We were healing him, I promise. It just got, ahem, slightly out of hand. Look! He has a new arm now!"

At this we all looked down at the Themis-shaped red slime on the ground. He was moving his new arm back and forth in wonder and disbelief. He slowly, carefully stood up, looked at mom, looked at me, decided that mom looked like a better bet, and leapt to hug her, slipping in the blood but sticking the landing.

The guards looked at each other, one of them looking distinctly green around the gills. The green gilled guard gracefully gallivanted away, grateful to be gone. The other guard looked around once more, and deciding to assert his authority (we were still in their barracks after all), ordered, "Fine, but clean this place up! We can’t have it stinking the barracks up!". Fair enough. I mentally put him last on my "to-heal" list.

I turned notifications back on, and the extra stress from healing someone fighting back, and from restoring a full limb, seemed to have paid off.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 5!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 6!]

…….

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 18!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 98!]

I looked sideways at that notification. Really? Really? Nothing about that mess had been calm!

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 96!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 76!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 64!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 79! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 80! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 104! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 79!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 80!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 104!]

[*ding!* For reaching level 80, you’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Deaden Pain]!] Pain is important, letting you know when you’re in trouble or when something’s wrong. Sometimes, pain is a hindrance and a distraction. Remove your sense of pain or someone else’s with this skill. Increased maximum duration per level.

Mom and I walked back to my room, where I whipped up a [Privacy] barrier.

"I got [Deaden Pain]!" I started off, pumping my fist in triumph.

"You need to take that skill." Mom ordered. Yikes, lay off, I wasn’t a kid anymore, I was 14. I wanted to take the skill, but now I didn’t want to just out of spite. I took a few deep calming breaths, letting [Centered Mind] take hold. Not taking a skill I needed out of spite would be dumb, and there was no telling when I’d get a second chance at it, if ever. "Fine, fine. Give me some time to think about what I’m losing." Mom left me alone, and I dropped [Privacy]. Let’s see what my options were.

[Dark Affinity], [Privacy], [Cure Toxin], [Attack Bacteria] were all being kept, no question about it. That left me with [Stealth], [Surgeon’s Scalpel], [Parasitic Remover], and [Tissue Removal] to work with. [Stealth] was my only non-healing skill left in my class, but had some utility. At the same time, I just hadn’t used it all that much, as evidenced by its low level.

[Surgeon’s Scalpel] and [Tissue Removal] had a huge amount of overlap in what they did. Out of the two, [Surgeon’s Scalpel] was the one more likely to go, since [Tissue Removal] could do everything Scalpel could do, but not vice-versa. On the other hand, the Scalpel was powerful when it was brought to bear properly – while I could remove flesh, it didn’t heal up neatly after. I suppose being able to Restore things after made that downside a bit moot. Argh, tricky. I have a sense it should be one of those two.

Lastly there was [Parasitic Remover], which was great for all sorts of creepy crawlies. Not only did it handle the more traditional "crawl inside you" parasites that could come from pork and related products, but handled fleas and ticks and the like. Religious bathing and food prep kept me safe from them, but at the same time, I was rarely using the skill on myself.

At the same time, it was almost never used. Diagnosing parasites properly was a skill I just didn’t have, and I’d turned down a diagnostic skill I was offered – something I deeply regretted.

In the end, it was due to regret, and a feeling of "Growing up", that I decided to lose the [Stealth] skill. I still wanted to insist I was a kid, but society here was starting to think I was an adult, and what adult needed to be sneaking around? It’s not like I was a thief, a Ranger, a guard, investigator, or anyone else who needed a [Stealth] skill – and it was pretty ironic that I had it with my first class being having the word "Light" in it and the [Flashlight] skill.

With a shudder, I lost [Stealth], and gained [Deaden Pain]. I immediately used it to turn off the lingering pain from the burns.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 2!]

Chapter 28

HEALING

We moved back home with Themis, who got his own cot in the bedroom. I had flat-out refused to share mine, which had sparked a round of arguing with mom. Dad had a quick private word with her though, and all was well. My suspicious nature was back though – dad was big on sharing, why wouldn’t he insist that I also share? Artemis swung by, making sure I was ok, and I mentioned that tomorrow I was going to try and restore most of my scarring.

I woke up the next day to an absolute mountain of food being hauled inside by Artemis.

"What? Artemis? Why are you here? What’s all this for?" I yawned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Artemis grinned cheekily at me.

"Morning sleepyhead! You’d wake up half-eaten if you were in the wilderness. As for all this," She emphasized by throwing another large fish on top of the week’s supply of food. I scanned it quickly. No mangos. Drat. "is for you while you’re healing. Magic is magic, but most people don’t realize how much mana, and Light-based restoration, comes from you. Why do you think I eat so much when I’m in town? They make me drain all of my mana out to be let in, restoring it all is hungry work."

So much made sense with that. I hadn’t ever really strained my mana before – not in the way I was about to. Would also explain why I had been so ravenous when recuperating, and why I wasn’t able to just get up and walk away the day after I was declared "healed".

"Alright healy-bug. Want some advice on how to tackle this?" I nodded, trying not to show how eager I was for Artemis’s advice, how I’d drink every word up.

"You’ve probably thought of how it’ll go, and you’re probably better at healing knowledge than I am at this point. So, I’ll stick to the other stuff. You’ll want [Privacy] up, because if you know nobody can see you, you’ll be able to focus better. I know it’s tempting to heal as much as you can, then wait for your mana to restore, but trust me – you want full mana before each session, in case there’s a problem. Lastly, I know you want to do this alone, but you should have someone nearby incase of a problem. I recommend your mom." I nodded, made sense. I grabbed Artemis’s arm as everyone else was walking out of the bedroom. "Can it be you?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you stick with me while I do this?" I shot Artemis my best sleepy puppy-dog eyes.

"Would you Artemis?" Mom suddenly jumped into the conversation, grabbing some food off the table. "I have so much to do today, it would be a huge load off my mind if I knew you were here." Artemis nodded, "Sure! It’s my last day here anyways, would love to spend it with healy-bug. Be nice to leave seeing her new face!" A whirlwind of getting ready, and mom left on her mysterious errands, dad taking Themis with him to work. He seemed to have an idea in mind to teach Themis how to be a guard, which was a much better life than a slave. We cleared a large section of the living room space – this was going to get messy, and I wanted cleanup to be easier.

As everyone left, Artemis suddenly picked me up and twirled me around, her face buried in my shoulder. It felt somewhat wet as I was put back down, with Artemis having her trademark smirk on her face.

"Alright butterface, ready to get started?" I opened my mouth in outrage, only to close it later. Butterface. I’ll show her. I’ll have the prettiest damn face by the time I was done.

I started off by throwing up [Privacy] around us. [Deaden Pain] on, and felt all of my pain fade away. I was going to do this properly; I wasn’t going to just jump into it like my last attempt. [Centered Mind] to help me focus, and [Medicine] to think about exactly what I was doing and how. The better the image I had, the less my skills needed to fill in the gaps, the more efficient and powerful my healing was. So, I focused. Bones and bone marrow. Joints and ligaments. Tendons and muscles, nerves and blood vessels. Skin wrapping it all around. Three bones, a connection back to the rest of me. The knife I’d gotten from dad, [Surgeon’s Scalpel] applied to give it a proper cutting edge. I breathed in, breathed out. Breathed in. The pain from last time I had tried flashing through my mind.

"Hey Artemis" I started, hesitantly. "Could you do this part?"

Artemis looked at me, eyebrows up, lips a thin line. "No. Don’t get me wrong, there’s almost nothing I won’t do for my little healy-bug, but I’m not mutilating my friend’s kid. No way. Nuh-un. I cause harm to someone, it’s for a reason, it’s to be permanent. I’m not like you healer types that can mutilate others ‘for their own good’. Sorry Elaine, this is on you."

Fine. I slowly, carefully slid the knife down on my finger, separating it. There was no pain, not even a far-off sensation of pain. Just – my hand now had four fingers. I kept the image I had in mind as blood started to spurt out of the wound. [Detailed Restoration]. A beautifully functional finger reappeared, elegant, as clean and clear as the day I was born. I breathed in, breathed out, checking my mana. [1978/2120]. With my regeneration so high, I’d get it back in a few minutes.

Artemis shoved some food in my hands. "Here. Eat. Gotta do it now, and do it between every session. You’d be surprised how fast it creeps up on you otherwise." I took a few nibbles, feeling full.

"Do you have a [Rapid Digestion] skill or something?" I asked suspiciously, thinking how much food she could eat in a single sitting, and putting some pieces of the puzzle together.

"Nope! Just practice!" Artemis informed me cheerily. "Also, work on your speed between the removal and the restoration. You don’t want to lose too much blood. It’s part of why I wanted Julia around."

"You knew?"

Artemis snorted. "Of course I knew, what you think we have secrets from each other? Secrets from you oh yes, we have plenty."

That was no good. Time to try and get information out from Artemis.

"Secrets, secrets, they’re no fun,

unless they’re shared with everyone!"

I sang out, trying to extract the juicy gossip from Artemis.

Artemis stuck her tongue out at me. "My secrets, not yours. Ready to go again?"

I took a deep breath. "Ready."

Like this we passed the day, sculpting my body, removing the scars and fused flesh, restoring myself to whole.

We ended with my face, and that was the strangest sensation. Just having a gaping hole, however temporary, where I used to have cheeks and nose, was a deeply disconcerting experience.

"Oh my!" Artemis said, faux-fancy "An angel has descended! What divine knowledge are you imparting upon us mortals, oh blessed one?"

I stuck my tongue out and threw a fish bone at her. That’ll show her. "Butterface" indeed.

Alright, time to turn notifications back on.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 19!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 20!]

….

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 45!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 97!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 98!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 92!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 92!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 19!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 20!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 42!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 77!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 78!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 81!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 91!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 92!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 93!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 91!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 81! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 105! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 81!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 105!]

I excitedly shared my hard-won gains with Artemis, who looked thoughtful.

"You know, at this rate of leveling, it might be worth throwing you into another fire…"

I had lots of fishbone ammo to throw.

After a few minutes of pelting Artemis with food scraps – and her retaliating in kind – she had a question for me.

"You know healy-bug, as awful as the whole fire mess was, you did get a ton of levels out of it. Have you considered doing more ‘carve and replace’ now and then to get some levels?"

I looked at her sideways. She was picking out scraps of food from her tunic, but otherwise looked serious.

"I mean, no. I just got the skill, so I hadn’t thought of it." I spent half a moment thinking about it – Artemis’s ideas always had merit. "I’m pretty sure I’m not going to. One, it’s no fun. Two, it’d cost me a fortune in food. Most importantly is three – it’d violate my Oath." I answered.

"Fair enough." Artemis said, looking down at her somewhat cleaned tunic. I stifled a giggle as I saw a bone carefully stuck in her hair.

That’d been a good shot.

Chapter 29

SECRETS, SECRETS, THEY'RE NO FUN

Mom and dad eventually came back, and they were delighted seeing me healed and whole again. Now it was time to right my wrongs. Now I could fix the disaster I had brought to us.

"Alright dad, it’s time for you to stop looking like a pirate!" I bounced up happily. I was feeling light-headed. We had tried to minimize the blood loss, but well, I had still lost some. Dad frowned at me, Artemis and mom gave me strange looks.

"What part about me says ‘pirate’ Elaine? They’re nasty, evil people, and we should be thankful that they don’t attack the town." Right, pirates didn’t traditionally have eye patches here, nor were they a romantic relic of the past – they were a real, present danger.

"Eh he, putting that aside, are you ready?" I deflected.

"Are you sure this will work?" He frowned. Yikes, no faith in me.

"Could it really get any worse?"

"Not really, do your worst." Ouch. With that stunning display of confidence, I started.

No point in [Privacy], so I started off with a [Deaden Pain]. I focused on eyes. The more I knew, the more I thought about it, the better my efficiency would be. I didn’t want all of my mana to vanish, just for a fraction of an eye to show up, and eyes were a lot more complicated than the skin and muscles I’d mostly been doing.

There was the sclera. The lens. The optical nerve, although that wasn’t too damaged. There were little blood vessels. There were… so many more pieces, and I knew I didn’t know them. Damnit, this might end poorly for me. I narrowed my focus. I should try to just do the part that was injured, not a full eye replacement. I breathed in and out, rapidly, bracing myself, and then, in rapid fire succession - [Tissue Removal], [Detailed Restoration].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 99!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 46!]

Yay levels! Not as much as earlier, but even two levels in a day, let alone a single event, was a big deal. I guess the complexity of the action, along with the ‘weight’ of it, gave me a little extra bump. Or I was just close to the next level anyways.

Dad blinked a few times, then groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Dad, dad, what’s wrong? You shouldn’t be feeling any pain!" I said, panicked. Did something go wrong? Did I just make things worse?

"Sorry, I’m fine, I have a splitting headache."

Dad brought his head up, blinking a few times, squinting and looking around.

"It’s not perfect – kinda blurry – but Elaine, I can see again!" With that, he jumped up, picked me up, and twirled me around. It’d be ages since he did that, and I suspected it might be the last time he’d be able to. I leaned into it and enjoyed the sensation.

We sat down, and I could suddenly feel the atmosphere shift on me. Mom and dad were beaming at each other, but there was a tension in the air, a secret known to everyone but me.

I could feel it, a weight in the air, a pressure bearing down on us. There was something afoot, something to do with all of the secret keeping. Artemis and mom still had that perfectly silent communication down, and she stuck around after dinner. Dad cleared his throat, everyone turned to look at me, and I could feel the other shoe about to drop on me. The air was thick, hard to breath, and I just wanted whatever this was over with.

"So Elaine, you’re probably wondering what we want to chat with you about." Gah, he was waffling, just say it outright, don’t leave me in suspense. "We wanted to talk with you about how you’re at a marriageable age." I let out a huge sigh of relief. This wasn’t that bad. We’d had this conversation a few times, going round and round in circles. I was nowhere close to being married off, so it was just another lecture. I can survive another lecture.

"Anyways, your mom has been working hard on this, and we finalized an agreement today – you’re going to marry Kerberos, Citizen Prasinos’s son."

Hun? What did he say? I must have misheard.

"Sorry dad, I wasn’t paying that much attention, it sounded like you said I was going to marry Kerberos! Could you repeat that?" I nervously chuckled in disbelief.

"You heard properly Elaine. We’ve arranged a marriage between you and Kerberos. Your mom’s been working on it for ages, and the stunt with the fire, and becoming a full Light healer, pushed it over the edge. Congratulations! You’re marrying into one of the most prominent families in Aquiliea!"

I felt the walls falling away from me, mom and dad enlarging to encompass my entire vision. I wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole. I wanted to get out, to escape.

"No!" I yelled, finding some of my fire, jumping up. "I’m not getting married now, and I’m not having who I marry picked out for me."

"Sit down!" Mom snapped at me. Out of reflex, from her tone, I sat down immediately. Mom turned to dad. "Look, I told you she’d take it badly if you were that blunt." Mom shook her head.

"Look, I know it’s a lot to take in. If it makes you feel any better, just about everyone has the same reaction as you. I had the same reaction as you, and I knew and liked your dad! Why don’t you come meet him with us tomorrow, see what it’s like? You’re not getting married tomorrow, it’s still a few months off at the earliest. Take some time, get used to the idea. Afterall, it’s exciting!" Mom’s attempt at soothing me, somehow, barely, worked, took the hot edge off of my panic and fear. I looked to Artemis. She winked at me.

"Fine. I’ll see." I looked down at my feet, words coming through gritted teeth, unwilling to concede, but with everyone stacked against me, I didn’t have much choice.

I got up the next morning, and reluctantly dressed in my best. No kid tunic with the short-like legs, nope. Had to wear a full-length ‘woman’s’ tunic, with my green stripes blessedly sown on by Septima. The thick and hearty stripes when I had first gotten it had turned into a thin green line accenting my clothes. Slightly melted and reformed pendant on my neck, Arcanite-pommel knife at my waist, pouch on my other hip, hair done up and, with a slight raiding of mom’s cosmetics, I was ready to do battle. I wasn’t going to get pushed around, I was going to lay down the rules in this first (technically second) meeting.

Leaving Themis to fend for himself, we left town, and started walking down the north road. Artemis followed us for a bit, in full Ranger gear, backpack, weapons, and more. The rest of her team, and the wagon, had left in the morning, and she was planning to catch up with it after seeing me go. When we got to the fork in the road to Kerberos’s house, she turned and hugged me.

"Listen Elaine, it’s not that bad. You’ll do fine, I promise. I’ll see you in two years! I checked out their family, you won’t have Rangers knocking on your door for bad reasons here. And hey, now I know where you’ll be! Chin up, be brave, I’ll be avenging thunder for you if needed." I hugged her as tightly as I could, not sure if she could feel anything between my low strength and her armor. I’m pretty sure she got the message.

We stood and waved Artemis off, her turning back and waving to us as she walked backwards, staying as long as we could until she vanished out of sight. Then we turned down the road to Kerberos’s house.

The day was bright and sunny, the breeze light and airy, and yet none of it reached me. The long road through cultivated fields was like an executioner’s plank, with nothing but sharks and the endless deep at the end, waiting to consume me, swallow me whole. Golden stalks of wheat all around us, bars to my prison cell. My tunic, previously steeling me and guarding me, was now a heavy weight, lead wrapping around me. It was getting harder to breath, panic mounting, breaths coming faster. This was just so quick! Less than 12 hours ago my biggest concern was dealing with my scarring – admittedly a problem, but one I had tools to fix – and now I was about to meet my fiancé. I didn’t want a fiancé.

The road was both too long, and too short. In a blink of an eye, we were in front of a sprawling estate, full of rich-looking low buildings scattered all over the place. There was a bustle of people around, and from the number of people and the work they were doing, I suspected most of them were slaves. Blah, they wanted me to live as a slave owner. I had fantasies of being waited on hand and foot – who didn’t? But it was always ethical, it was always because I had made millions of dollars and was paying people to do it. Sure, slaves were paid – either upfront, or while they were slaves, and could buy themselves out – but something about it just felt different, felt wrong. Gah, I needed to focus, we were almost at the door.

A well-dressed slave met us at the door, and lead us inside. The place was huge and gorgeous, rugs and frescos on every floor, paintings and sculptures on every wall. Classy luxury and wealth emanated from every stone, from every chair, table, and recliner. The pillows had gold threads embroidered on them, and everything was dyed, some even in the rich apple red's and azure blue’s that were so expensive. My eyes had turned into dollar signs as I tried to take it all in. I could see why mom and dad thought this was such a good marriage for me.

We entered into yet another fancy room, and there was Kerberos, and his mother and father, all dressed in rich togas, with a purple sash going from shoulder to hip. Yikes, I thought we had pulled out all the stops, but it was quite clear even now that there was a wide financial divide between our families.

Just how had mom managed to wrangle this? I was – however reluctantly -impressed.

Our parents were talking, but I ignored them, instead eyeing up Kerberos. He somehow was slightly fat, something I don’t think I’d seen before on Pallos. Must be all the good living here. I don’t think I’d seen him since the ill-fated System Day all those years ago, but maybe I’d seen him now and then in market, a face glimpsed in the crowd. Who knows. He somehow managed to both look bored, and to be leering at me. Wow. Great first second impression Kerberos.

I snapped back to paying attention when I heard my name being said.

"Does that work for you Elaine?" I sadly missed everything that had transpired before, too bored and distracted to pay attention. Might as well agree, what’s the worst that could happen.

"Yeah sure." I started to drift off again, listening while looking everywhere else.

Mom gave me a Look, telling me she knew I hadn’t been paying attention, and better commit to whatever I had just agreed to.

"Alright, why don’t you and Kerberos have some time together to get to know each other? You can also discuss which two skills he thinks you should get." Kerberos’s mom said that, while mom threw me another Look. The screeching noise of a train emergency braking on badly rusted tracks went through my head. Damnit! I had agreed to changing up two of my skills to suit Kerberos’s whims! Why didn’t I listen!

Another one of the endless slaves that seemed to infest the house came by to take us to another room, while my mind whirled, trying to interpret mom’s Look. Right. There was no way of telling if I’d actually lose and gained the skill or not. With enough practice, you could mimic a large range of general skills.

We got to a new room, and settled into a pair of recliners facing each other. Well, time to have my first real conversation with my so-called "fiancé."

Chapter 30

A CONVERSATION

Kerberos was a real charmer. I thought he’d been leering before, but no, that had been his idea of subtle. His eyes roamed all over me, practically undressing me where I lie, and I felt my skin crawl. I decided to throw an [Identify] to see what I was dealing with.

[Warrior]

Higher level than me, but not by much. One of the only non-guard, non-Ranger warriors I’d ever seen. Wonder what his class was.

"So you’re Elaine." He started off, deciding that looking at my face was too much. "Mom said she’d found me a pretty Light-and-Dark healer to marry, and yeah, you’ll do." The ever-present fire burning inside of me flared at that, and I lost most of my shyness and inhibitions.

"Hey! I don’t like that we’re getting married just because someone else says-so. But if this is going to work, listen up. Just because we’re getting married, doesn’t mean you’ll be the boss of me. If this is going to work, we’re going to be equals. You won’t be steamrolling me, you won’t be making decisions for me or about me, and we’ll come to agreements on decisions. We won’t keep secrets." This seemed like a reasonable point to start with. There was a bunch more I wanted to say and add in, but I figured starting with good groundwork we could both agree on and work off of was square one.

Sure, I was being a bit of a hypocrite – I wasn’t going to be mentioning the reincarnation thing, not for many years, but still!

Kerberos just sneered at me. "Why on Pallos would we be equal? We’re not equal. I’m a man, you’re a girl. I’m a citizen, you’re not. I’m higher level than you are. There’s no way I’d tell you my secrets, everyone knows girls gossip. Plus, you couldn’t be that much help anyways, you can’t even read." I was full on seeing red at this point.

"I can too read!" Wow, real convincing. Arguing like I was six-years-old again. Kerberos just looked down his nose at me, which was really impressive given that he hadn’t looked above my chest yet.

He scoffed. "Wow, and a liar to boot. Ah well, you’re hot enough, I can fix you up. You’ll be taking a show and tell skill." He waggled his eyebrows. "And something exotic." With that he just turned around and left. A high-pitched yelp came through the doorway he passed through, and a slave girl shortly came through, rubbing her behind. She saw me and froze.

"I-I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were here." She carefully bowed to me, slightly trembling. I took a few steps towards her, immediately seeing when she came in range of [Calming Aura]. Trembling stopped, and all of my hard work recently paid off as I got a notification.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 93!]

"What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?" I came over, making a motion to grab her hand and stopping. I was a stranger here, she clearly felt there was some difference, let’s not make it awkward.

"No, no, I’m fine." She straightened back up, brushing me off with her hand.

My eyes narrowed. "Really? If you’re so fine, why did my healing skill level up when you got close?"

She couldn’t look me in the eye, shame written across her face.

"Come on, there’s a slim chance I’ll eventually be married off to this family. You can tell me, I don’t bite. What’s your name?"

"Catona." She reluctantly parted with that morsel, seeing no reason to deny it to me.

"Catona, won’t you tell me what’s wrong?" This felt all wrong, me trying to pry information out of someone a few years older than me. The power dynamic was screwy, she was supposed to be the wiser, smarter one that I looked up to, not vice-versa.

She chewed his lip, still looking off to the side. "It’s Kerberos." She spat out with such venom, such poisonous fury, that said more than words ever could. With that the floodgates opened. How Kerberos would leer at most of the women. (No surprise there!) How he’d belittle most of the slaves, lording over them. How his dad let him run around. How he’d practice fights with most of the male slaves. He did have good grace when he lost, but wouldn’t fight that person again. How he bragged that he’d be an amazing Centurion. How he tried to convince some of the female slaves to give him favors, and gave preferential treatment to those that did – shifting their less-pleasant work to those that rebuffed him. All in all, a real charmer that I’d been setup with.

Catona eventually lead me back to where the parents were, and more polite chit-chat was exchanged. A meal, more polite conversation, and without additional incident, we left, heading home again.

It was late in the evening by the time we got back, and we sat down for dinner, in more reasonable clothes.

"I think that went well" Dad started off, taking a big mouthful.

I said nothing, violently stabbing a fish on my plate, imagining Kerberos’s ugly mug.

Mom looked smug. "So do I. Elaine, what did you think?"

"Kerberos is a prick." Honesty’s the best policy.

Mom pointed a finger at me. "Honey, that’s no way to talk about your future husband."

"But he is!" I protested. "Also, I’m not going to marry him. No way."

Dad’s fist pounded the table with enough force to get all of our dishes to jump, and Themis’s water spilt. "Listen here, you-" Mom interrupted him with a hand motion.

"Elaine, I know you’re not excited about it. But Kerberos will grow up, just like you’ll grow up. You two will find love, trust me. Nobody’s excited to get married, nobody’s thrilled. We really, truly, honestly think this is what’s best for you. I know you don’t see it that way, but can you give it a chance for us? Please?" With mom’s impassioned plea, I didn’t have much of a solid counter argument. It didn’t stop me from trying, and a fierce argument raged through the night. Anything I said was met with "He’ll grow up." Or "You’ll eventually grow into it." Or other such nonsense, completely dismissing my complaints, pleas, and arguments. We went to bed, still at an impasse.

I lay in bed thinking about it. What were my options, really? Option one was obvious, go with the flow, get married to some rich kid, live in a lovely mansion in the countryside. I hated the idea, hated the restrictions, hated the idea of being married off so early, of sharing a life with Kerberos. I’d probably end up sharing Octavia’s fate, and that was a no-go.

Option two. Say no. I strongly suspected though that staying here and trying to say no would get me a close-up and uncomfortable look at what ‘power over life and death’ meant in a very real, and very unpleasant sense. So this just circled back to option one.

Option three. Strike out on my own. I wasn’t ready to strike out on my own, in any sense of the way. Or was I? I had some skills, and some valuable skills at that. However, if I stayed in town, I suspect I’d get dragged back to my ‘family’, whichever one currently had claim over me.

It made my lips curl, the way other people could have a ‘claim’ on me, like I was property of some sort to be traded or bartered away. Heck, this whole marriage thing felt like I’d be sold to the highest bidder, never mind that the highest bidder was rich. I would choose my own fate, be my own person, like Artemis was.

Artemis!! I bolted upright in bed. Artemis ran away from home when she was about my age. Artemis managed to make it work. Artemis couldn’t be that far away – she’d just left today. I had [Running]. I could move fast. I might be able to catch up with her, tag along with the Rangers. They didn’t have a healer, I could patch them up after a fight, pay for my travel by working, Artemis could help me get my footing in another city, and I could start a life of my own.

Content that I had a plan of action, that I could throw off these shackles, I went to sleep. Well, tried to at least – my heart was thumping, I could feel every breath, every fiber touching me. I was aware of every sound, every person walking by on the street. In the early hours of the morning, sleep finally claimed me.

I was woken up early, rubbing sleep from my eyes and failing. Bleh. Completely sleep-deprived was not a way to plan this escape. However, it had to be today, otherwise I’d never catch up. How fast could a horse-drawn wagon go anyways?

Fortunately, I was mostly left alone, mom and dad assuming I was moping, which I was doing in good measure. Alright, let’s do this.

Easy to run in clothes. Check.

My pendant. Check.

Knife? Handy for everything, check.

Life savings? Off of the rod, into a pouch, can just about hold it all. Check.

Spare clothes? Triple check. I went with three changes of clothes, with one being a fancy adult tunic and the rest being more of the short type that was easy to run in.

Water bottle? No check. Water was super important; I need to make sure I get some before I go.

Food? Packed a lunch and a dinner, I should be able to catch up to Artemis in a day.

I took a few experimental jumps with everything I had. Seemed like I could move easily enough, and it wasn’t too heavy. Those few points I had desperately dumped into strength in that burning building were paying off.

I headed off to market, drawing zero strange looks. After all, I was just another person in the crowd with a heavy backpack. I picked up a water bottle, parting with a few of my hard-won coins. Down to the river, drank a bunch of water, filled up more. It was easier to move with the water in me.

It was at the Courier’s guild that I hesitated. I wanted to leave a message for mom and dad, to let them know where I was and that I was OK. It would mean revealing I knew how to write though, especially since I didn’t want to dictate to someone there, who might get the bright idea of stopping someone a kid from running away. Bah. Make up your mind, I was either a kid, and not able to be married off, or an adult, who could make her own choices.

In the end, my desire for my parents not to worry overcame my desire to keep secrets. What would it matter? I went in and requested a bamboo scroll and some charcoal, and got strange looks. Yeah, look at the amazing girl who can read and write. I hemmed and hawed over the letter, before finally settling on short and sweet.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m ok, and I love you both very much. I refuse to marry Kerberos, and I’ve decided to make my own fortune. I’ll be trying to meet up with Artemis – I’m sure she’ll be able to help. I’ll let you know when I’ve settled down somewhere.

Love,

Elaine.

With that, I rolled up the scroll, sealed it with some helpfully offered wax, and gave my instructions – in-town delivery, but the next day. That got me a strange look, and I was politely asked why I wasn’t doing it myself. I gave my best mysterious smile, and got a grumpy look return. Fine.

With that, I was ready. It was time to leave Aquiliea. It was time to seek my fortune.

It was time for adventure.

Chapter 31

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!

I made it to the north gate, only to realize my first problem. The guards and the gate check. It’d never been a problem before, I always had someone with me to help me through. Well, I had no contraband, or anything the guards would care about, but on the other hand, they probably knew me, and would ask why I was heading out of town.

Let’s see. I wanted to be truthful if at all possible, but telling them "I’m running away from home." would probably end up with me denied exit, escorted back home, and watched carefully every remaining moment. So the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth seemed to be out. Let me take stock of what I had. Food, water, clothes, knife, belt, pendant, diamond. It was like I was going on a picnic.

Actually, in a sense, I was going on a picnic. Maybe I could say I was feeling an urge to eat lunch outside of the town walls? All, technically, truthful, and innocent enough. It didn’t explain the clothes though, but eh, it might work.

It was good enough for me to get in line and start thinking about it. Bribe the guards? With what? A diamond, which would get all sorts of questions, and everyone in trouble? My meager savings? It’d just draw attention to me, let’s not.

The line shuffled forward, and I kept thinking about it. What was on the road north? Virinum was somewhat northwards, Kerberos’s house… I really knew practically nothing of the world outside of Aquiliea. Hang on, could I say I was going to Kerberos’s house? I was technically engaged, it made sense, was there a reason to –

"Excuse me, miss?" The guard repeated himself to me, a bit less friendly than the first time. First time? Shit! It was my turn, and the guards were talking to me.

"Sorry, yes?" I said, flustered, broken out of my train of thought.

"Reason you’re going out of town?" He repeated himself.

"Errr… a picnic?" I said, panicked, having not yet settled on an excuse. That got me a suspicious look, but the guard was still relaxed, hands far away from his baton.

"A healer? At your age, alone outside the walls?" Blast, my healer tag. And being alone, outside of the walls. I could see why it didn’t look good.

"Come on, you don’t know Elaine? She’s Elainus’s kid, follows him around all the time, tries to constantly ‘heal’ us." The other guard butted in, apparently finding sniping our conversation much more interesting than watching another trader leave town. "I heard about the fire, that was quite something. Let her through. If she wants a breath of fresh air, I wouldn’t blame her."

Being vouched for by another guard was good enough, and I was through the gate in a heartbeat. "Be safe!" the friendlier guard called to me as I skipped down the road, overtaking the trader and his cart in a heartbeat. Free! I was free! I felt the chains and weight binding me fall off, turned to dust in the wind. The sky was slightly overcast, continuing its trend of not reflecting my mood properly, but I didn’t care!

I ran, I skipped, I jumped, I twirled, a blaze of motion, wind in my hair. I was on open roads, I could run as long, as far, as fast as I wanted! Who needed to carefully manage free stat points when I was free? Not me! Let’s see how fast I could go! I dumped all 22 of my free stats into Speed, and started to run with everything I had. Feet pounding, hair flapping like a kite, bag bouncing on my back, I was free!

The fork in the road where we’d turned to Kerberos’s place yesterday showed up, much faster since I was running, and not meekly following along in my best clothes. I gave the fork double fingers as I ran by, turning around to continue giving it fingers as I left. Some gestures transcended planets.

Free! I continued to run down the roads, pushing myself, delighting in a notification.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 55!]

Never got any solid chances to run in town – my stats and skills were too low to properly use the white zone, but too high to keep running in the park, and I’d been too busy to go out of the town walls to run like this. Miracle I’d gotten it to 54 really, and that was with a fire boosting it.

I dashed, I jogged, I sprinted, trotted, tripped and recovered, but most of all, I ran, reveling in every breath, every foot hitting the ground and springing up again, the flow of it all. I entered the great bamboo forest without breaking stride, large shoots of the grass going up into the sky, forming a great umbrella. I could run, and run, and run, even without being in amazing shape, even without training professionally. The benefits of skills, and the combination of a relatively low [Running] skill with high Mana Regeneration.

I felt a wild joy bubbling up inside of me, wanting to burst out into wild song! I sang then, not a song, just high, happy notes of joy, of happiness, of a feeling of freedom and release so good I wanted to eat it and never hunger again.

I kept running as farms turned to orchards, orchards turned to grazing land, and grazing land slowly, surely, transitioned into untamed land, fields of wildflowers waving to me as I ran by, mighty oaks reaching for the sky, untouched since creation. Nobody had ever tried to marry an oak off. Nobody had tried to chain an oak. Nobody would chain me ever again.

If bindings and restrictions were on me, they would be ones I chose for myself, like [Oath]. Nothing external. That made me wonder – could I turn my burning desire for freedom, to not be restricted, into a skill of some sort? Would it help me?

Did I even need a skill for something as fundamental and true to myself as a desire for sovereignty?

Whatever! Deep and weighty thoughts were for another day, today was a day to be FREE! To run, to explore the world, to see what nature – true, primal, unfettered nature – was like in this world. There were no pictures. There were no documentaries. It was all town, town, town, and even outside of the town was carefully cultivated farmland. This was nature! This was untamed wilderness, as free and wild as my heart.

The road was still Republic standard, which was to say amazing for the rest of the technology I’d seen so far. I flopped down in a nice little clearing to have some lunch and drink some water. No sign of Artemis or the Rangers yet, but the day was still young, and the bamboo was nicely shading me from the midday heat of the sun. I got back up to keep running.

And running.

And running.

I could – and would try – to run all day, this was just the best! Seeing the scenery change, the road going by, new things, new smells, escaping the bustle and crowd. This was wonderful.

A pain in my feet suggested that maybe, just maybe, I should check on my equipment. I took off my sandals – not the best for running, upon reflection – and checked my feet. Huge oozing blisters met my eye. Yikes. Maybe I should take it easy.

Or maybe a quick shot of [Detailed Restoration] could take care of it. Yup! Two in total – one per foot – and I was good to keep going! I wish I had a cellphone or something, I needed "Don’t stop me now". Although the song, like many other things, were faded, a decade and a half between me and them.

One foot in front of another – just how far could a Ranger team with a wagon go in two days? Not too far, right?

I kept going, reveling in the ability to run, the occasional [Detailed Restoration] keeping me up when my body failed me, mana burning at close to the same rate as I was regenerating it. I see why I’d been offered [Runner] as a class, this suited me, like a velvet glove on my hand.

Ah, but my [Healer] tag suited me even more, like a skin. So often when something you love becomes your job, a subtle poison slowly taints it, consuming and overwhelming, until you hate the very thing you love. Like making your favorite song an alarm song.

As the sky started to darken, a terrible thought came over me. They were a bunch of insanely fit, dedicated, high level, high stats soldiers. Even with a wagon, they could chew up insane distances in a single day. I might have to camp out in the bamboo forest tonight.

Camp, with no ability to make a fire.

Camp, when the sky had gone from overcast, to promising rain.

Camp, when I had no supplies for a tent.

Camp, with no food for breakfast.

Camp, with an empty water bottle, and the nearest river I knew of a day’s run away.

Camp, when I had nobody to look out for me, or cover my back.

Camp, in a forest full of monsters.

I’m not sure I thought this "running away" thing all the way through.

Chapter 32

THE WOODS ARE DARK AND DEEP

Night fell far too rapidly, and I found a small clearing by the road to sit down in, a medium size boulder to lean against, ring of mushrooms demarcating the borders of the clear zone. Weird how nature works that way sometimes. I couldn’t run all night – while I could heal myself, and possibly keep going with [Running] and [Greater Invigoration], the woods got dark at night. The thick growth of trees blocked out most of the star and moonlight, and even with skills giving me fuel, I needed rest. Legends had it that some people could go days without sleep, when they had a high enough Vitality, but I didn’t know anyone that could do that. It was the stuff of stories, like Sentinel Gideon.

I ate the last of my food – why didn’t I think that this could take more than a day – and tried to make a pile of clothes to sleep on and sleep under, money pouch helping form a pillow. The last glow of dusk vanished, and I found myself starting to shiver despite my layers, jumping at every creak and crack that rumbled through the woods. Was that some ground critter over there, or a snake sneaking up on me? Was that the sound of a deer, or some sort of wolf? Were the dinosaurs here herbivores, or would they think Elaine was on the menu?

I spent, far and away, the most uncomfortable night of either of my two lives. I clutched my knife with my right hand, my pendant with my left, hoping that their wards for luck and protection were more than just a saying.

I started to doze, only to hear some bushes rustling. Icy panic flooded through me as I scrambled upright, knuckles white on my knife. Several seconds of hearing my heartbeat pound in my ears, an eternity later, I relaxed. Just the wind. I hope. I tried to settle back down, eyes getting heavy, as a light drizzle started. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I moved, knocking over something – the clang suggested my water bottle, but I couldn’t see anything - trying to get my clothes under me, so they wouldn’t get wet.

So instead, they got muddy. A scream of frustration left my lips, my hair flopping about in long, wet strands, droplets of cold water flicking off with each movement. Forget trying to keep them clean. I heaped them around me, trying to keep myself vaguely warm and dry. The rain stopping did more for that than any of my efforts. This was miserable.

I had the good sense to drink some of the rain water, and to leave my water bottle out to catch more, but that was more silver lining than anything else. [Vigilant] leveled up three times, a feat that I hadn’t seen since the incident with the wind weasels.

I settled back down, exhausted, barely able to keep my eyes open, to try and catch anything sneaking up on me. Why was I trying to keep my eyes open? I couldn’t see anything anyways.

I woke up with a start. Ambush! No, just the wind again. Heart pounding, it took ages before I could fall back asleep.

I’d gotten a terrible night’s sleep the previous night, and tonight was shaping up to also be terrible sleep-wise.

Dawn found me shivering in my muddy, sodden pile of clothes, miserable, but alive, and if this was still Earth I’d be mistaken for a racoon or a panda. Normally I’d be sleeping for longer, but staying here wasn’t getting me any closer to Artemis and her team, and maybe I could gain some ground. Hopefully they liked sleeping in.

All of my clothes being soaked through increased the weight I was carrying dramatically, and I could feel it. My stomach gurgled, protesting the lack of breakfast, or anything else to eat. I eyed the mushrooms lining the clearing as I reached up to the tangle of my hair, realizing I hadn’t brought a comb.

I don’t know why, but realizing I hadn’t even thought ahead enough to bring a comb is what broke me, causing me to sob in a little glade in the forest. It brought home the idea that I could die doing this, that this wouldn’t be as easy as a hop-skip-jump. In my mind I’d meet up with Artemis, and everything would be sunshine and roses. I hadn’t thought that it might take longer than anticipated to find them, that I might even miss them entirely. I had no way of finding water. I had no way of getting food. I’m not even sure I could kill a rabbit if I found one.

After some time unproductively wasting water, I dried my eyes and wiped my face. I eyed the brightly colored mushrooms all around me, a riot for the eyes. I had [Cure Toxin], so maybe I could risk eating one. I weighed the pros and cons in my mind. Food. Potential death from poisoning, if it was too fast, or my skills not enough. I was hungry, not starving. Rule of three. Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food. I looked at how skinny I was, and amended it to ten days without food.

Let’s not risk it, yet. I’ll keep in mind that food most people considered poisonous I could attempt to eat in small quantities.

I used [Attack Bacteria] on my sodden clothes, then wrung some water out of them into my mouth – waste not, want not, and the skill would hopefully stop me getting sick. I grabbed my stuff, and started a long loping journey down the road, keeping my eyes peeled for food, water, or things that’d consider me food. The deeper into the forest I went, the thicker the bamboo was, to the point where it turned into a crisp, clean corridor of green. [Greater Invigoration] helped shake off some of the sleepiness, and I started moving.

[Greater Invigoration] was like a few strong cups of coffee. It cleared the fog in my head, it woke me up, but I still felt that distant sluggishness that came from a lack of sleep. Multiple nights with terrible sleep.

It was about mid afternoon when I rounded a bend to find a bunch of rocks in the middle of the road. I paused, looking at them. I cursed. I must have missed Artemis and company by a mile – no way they’d let fallen rocks like this stay. Decision time – do I weave my way through the rocks, and keep going forward? Or do I double back, trying to find wherever the Rangers went? I scratched my head, somehow unable to beat the itch there.

A jolt of realization went through me, sleep-deprived fog clearing as adrenaline hit the emergency button. That was [Vigilance] going off, warning me that I was in trouble, that I needed to be alert. Heart pounding, I looked all around me. Nothing. Just bamboo shoots, swaying in the breeze.

Above me? Canopy. No death from the skies today. Behind me? Bend in the road. In front of me? They’re just rocks, right….?

I decided forward was the way to go. [Vigilance] was going nuts, but that just said to be careful. If I started trying to double back, I’d just walk back home. That wasn’t an option. I started to squeeze between the rocks – nothing too big, not too tight of a squeeze – and jumped a foot in the air as someone said "Excuse me miss?"

I’d known someone was there, but a polite greeting instead of a vicious attack completely threw me off-guard, startling me.

My shin landed on the rock on the way back down, unbalancing me, causing me to throw a hand forward to catch myself. With a sickening crack my right arm hit another rock, causing me to scream in pain as I finished landing. I curled up the best I could, sobbing through the pain, as two well-armed men and a woman came out from the bamboo.

"Ha! Hypatios, you’ve never taken someone out just by saying hi!" the voice that initially called out to me said. He was a young man, older than with a cocky, arrogant swagger, wearing mis-matched leathers and well-used weapons.

"Gregorios, don’t be a dick. She’s clearly not a courier, merchant, or trader of any sort. Probably another runaway." Another male voice, I assume was Hypatios, responded. I looked at him. Older looking, hair almost entirely white, but still in lean, mean fighting condition. I knew jack shit about weapons, and his were either well-used, or terribly maintained. If I were a betting girl, I’d bet on the first one. More importantly though, they knew I was a runaway! I couldn’t bring myself to care, my arm hurt too much. Wait, I was being dumb. [Deaden Pain]. I gasped in relief as the pain left me, well-aware of the dangers of possibly leaving my sense of pain permanently off.

"Excuse me, are you ok?" The woman in the group leaned over me. She looked middle aged, time having left a few marks on her, but could be anywhere from 30 to 50.

[Identify] gave me [Laborer] on her.

"I think I broke my arm." I said clinically, still lying on the ground. I was trying to evaluate myself for any other injuries, but that was nearly impossible to do with my sense of pain completely turned off. Even with magic, there was no winning.

"Can you try to get up?" The woman persisted.

I groaned, and slowly sat up, cradling my arm. Fortunately, it seemed like the rest of me was ok, if badly bruised. I didn’t feel up to trying to stand all the way up.

"Come on Iola, we need to get us off the road. She’s [Healer]-tagged, just grab her and get the road clear." Clear roads sounded nice. Iola grabbed me under my good shoulder, and lifted me up, then steered me off the road, into the thick bamboo.

"Hey wait, won’t we get lost in here?" I asked, confused why we were heading into the forest, off the road.

"Shhh! I’ll explain later. You are a runaway, right?" Iola hushed me, continuing to lead me through the thick brush. I caught a glimpse of a person, no two people, no three, four, five – just how many people were hiding in the woods here!? Why weren’t they clearing the rocks off the road? Those things were dangerous!

It slowly dawned on me as we suddenly ended up on a game trail that yes, it was dangerous, and they had deliberately made it dangerous. Those weren’t people hiding in the wood, those were bandits waiting by their trap. They were why my [Vigilance] was going nuts. Those rocks were there to stop a wagon, they were just around the bend so they’d run into them full speed.

I cursed my naïvety as I suddenly realized I had been oh-so-gently kidnapped by a bunch of bandits. Welp, this running away thing was going swimmingly so far.

We went through some twists and turns in the forest, Iola seeming to know every step and crook and cranny, while my mind raced. My arm was broken, and completely useless. I couldn’t even properly reach my knife – left arm gently but firmly held at the shoulder; right arm useless. I hadn’t been robbed and murdered on the spot, and Iola, in spite of this gentle kidnapping, seemed to be treating me in a kindly, if brisk, manner. I should just go with the flow for now, get my arm healed, see what was going on, and try to trade some healing for freedom. There had to be someone injured, or at the very least, wanting some scars removed.

Then again, if they were injured, that meant they were fighting – and killing – people on the road, which swung the pendulum back on "they’d be ok letting me go". Afterall, if I knew where a bunch of murderous bandits were, why would they let me go?

We made it through another twist, and came in sight of a monument to human ingenuity, persistence, and the thousand and one properties of bamboo. It was a fortress, a base, a large complex building – none of those words quite fit. Rows of bamboo were woven together with bamboo fibers, creating walls eight feet tall. I couldn’t see people walking on top of the walls, but there did seem to be a watch tower – purely made of bamboo – in the middle of the fortress. I snuck a look at Iola, and realized everything she was wearing, from tunic to belt to sandals, were also woven bamboo. When in bamboo forest, do as the bamboo.

We entered through a gate made of, surprise surprise, bamboo, the bottom of the gate pulled up for us to get through. I looked around to see a village in miniature. Someone was weaving baskets – out of bamboo, what else – a large communal cookpot was stewing, with a large chef dictating what went in and what didn’t, as several other people brough various types of food over, leaving with bowls of stew. Someone else was peeling and preparing bamboo logs, with a large pile behind them of prepared wood. Iola kept bustling me around, leading me to a circle of rocks around another fire, sitting me down, throwing a blanket over me, and getting me a bowl of food, all without saying a word.

At the food, I threw her a grateful look, and started to eat. The blanket was warm, the food causing a blissful heat to spread through me. I barely knew what it was, just that it tasted like deliciousness, and that hunger was the best spice.

"So, runaway?" she started, and I had a distinct feeling that this was an interrogation, and not really a friendly chat. In spite of all the heat around me, I felt a chill go through me. I hesitated, then nodded. She seemed pleased at that.

"Anyone going to come after you?" I thought about that. Would anyone chase after me? I’d gotten a solid head start, the letter might delay them, they might not look too hard or go as far as I did – after all, I was running with all my might for a whole day and change. I shrugged my shoulders – my right arm was still broken, my left hand was busy feeding me, and my mouth was occupied inhaling as much good as possible. Communication on expert mode.

Iola gave me a look from top to bottom. "Yeah, I can see why they might chase after you – or might not depending. Name’s Iola – what’s yours?" Drat, I had to actually talk now.

I swallowed my food, another bite ready to go. "Elaine." Politeness finished, food back into mouth. Iola grinned at me.

"Elaine, what a beautiful name! Why don’t you stay here with us, in Verdant Village? We’re all runaway slaves here, as long as you pull your weight and don’t slack, you’ll fit right in!"

I froze at that, food in my mouth the only thing stopping me from shouting out. That’s what they had meant by runaway! They thought I was a runaway slave! If anyone found me here, they’d assume I was also a runaway slave! If slaves had it mediocre, runaway slaves had it horrible. It was always some gruesome form of execution, a way to tell the other slaves that ‘it could be so much worse’.

At the same time, it was obvious that they’d been here for a good long time. A structure the size of Verdant Village didn’t show up in a month, or even a year. There was clearly food, community, and a sense of safety. I should probably play along, at least until my arm was better, get a sense of the place, then escape.

Artemis would be so long gone by then, but maybe I’d be able to catch them at the next town. They did like taking a week or so in town, maybe they’d get sidetracked, and I believed I could move at least as fast as them. I ignored the voice saying that I clearly did not move as fast as them.

Iola could see me thinking about it, eyes narrowed as she watched me. Another reason to agree – they’d be here a long time. I’d never even heard rumors of a place like this. They clearly liked their secrets. I suspect if I said I wanted to leave; I’d leave in a funeral pyre. I nodded and smiled, tried to bring another spoonful of food to my mouth, before realizing I’d run out. Drat. My excuse to talk as little as possible had run out.

My agreement got a brilliant smile out of Iola, with black holes checkered where she was missing teeth. "Great! What kind of healing tricks do you have?"

Chapter 33

VERDANT VILLAGE

How much did I want to reveal? I didn’t want to give away all of my tricks, but I also wanted to seem useful enough to not be bothered. I’d been looking around, and while there were a few women, the men-to-women ratio was badly skewed, and now more than ever, mom’s comments on healer tags having the potential to bring trouble rang through my head.

Well, my class types were already revealed – Light Healer, and I probably couldn’t hide that my second class was healer. I probably couldn’t hide my elements either. I should let them know about the [Detailed Restoration], that’d earn me major brownie points. [Oath] was completely off the table. [Vigilant] might be an option, although me literally walking into an ambush didn’t speak that well for it.

Then again, I had ignored its warning. So that was on me. Back to skills.

[Lost and Found] was completely harmless, and I’d be happy to tell them about it. [Running] was similarly harmless, although I was going to keep [Learning] under wraps. There’d be serious questions about how I had that skill, and my current cover was as a runaway slave. Actually, less on skills, more on my cover. Kerberos. Yup. I was going to pin the blame on him, and if I told it properly, it wouldn’t even be a lie!

A harsh cough to my side brought me back to reality. Iola wanted answers, and wanted answers now. She didn’t want to give me enough time to think up lies, which to be fair, is what I was doing. Fine, time to spill, and think on my feet.

"I’m a Light and Dark based healer." I started off. "I have various skills to deal with illness, and I have [Detailed Restoration]. I also have [Vigilant] in my general skills." Alright, hope that was enough to keep her happy, and with luck she’d be too excited about the [Detailed Restoration] to ask too many more questions.

"mmm mmm that’s nice" Iola said, happily nodding along. Suddenly she whipped towards me, hitting me across my chest with her arm, pinning me to the ground, knife at my throat.

"All of your skills." She snarled at me.

I screamed in pain as I hit the ground, a sickening cracking noise coming from my arm as the break got worse. [Centered Mind] kicked in, only to immediately get kicked out as I felt the knife slowly, oh-so-gently, press into my throat. My body trembled, lips trembling, I immediately confessed every single skill I had, including [Learning], [Oath of Elaine to Lyra], and [Attack Bacteria]. Babbling on, focus entirely on that cold, harsh strip of metal on my throat, I also gave away all of my levels, desperately hoping that she’d be satisfied, that the knife wouldn’t press deeper and end me.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 93!]

[Centered Mind] kicked in again, shielding me from the sharp edge of emotion, and letting me actually think.

"What’s bacteria?" Iola eased up a notch on the knife, and I felt a warm liquid slowly going down my throat. A quick [Deaden Pain] got my arm under control, [Detailed Restoration] closed the slight cut in my throat. Immediate problems attended to; I went back to Iola’s question.

Still not the time to let the genie out of the bottle. I’ll try a half-truth, the same one I used on Artemis. "I-it-it’s a type of cu-cure di-disease." I stammered out. Iola grunted, seeming to accept it.

"[Learning]?" My interrogation continued.

Building up some courage – I could only be scared witless for so long – I said. "A skill that helps me learn other skills. Makes everything else level faster." That got an appreciative noise.

"[Lost and Found]? It doesn’t let other people find you does it?" I felt a flush cover my cheek, turning my face away, unable to meet Iola’s gaze.

"I, erm, lose my things…. A lot." I quietly confessed.

With a high, disbelieving chuckle, Iola shook her head at me. "I don’t think ‘a lot’ covers it when you not only get a skill in it, but get it to level 60!" Her grip on me completely relaxed as she fell back, howling with laughter. It wasn’t funny!

Ok, fine, if you’re not the one with the skill, it might be funny.

She sat back up, and I nervously chuckled with her as I rolled over, trying to get up with just one working arm. Iola’s rapid change between emotions had me scared, not knowing if at any moment she’d flip a switch and stick a knife into me. I needed time, and focus, to fix my broken arm, and I hadn’t been given either yet. I had just finished rolling over, starting to get up, when Iola kicked me in the side, sending me sprawling onto my left side, forcing all the air out of my lungs.

"You know, while you look like a runaway, your skills don’t say ‘slave’. Tell me everything. I don’t like what I hear, you can guess what happens."

"I am a runaway, but I wasn’t a slave." I started off. "Family was trying to marry me off to some prick, and this was my way of saying no."

Iola tapped her knife against her lips, eyes gazing off into the distance.

"Willing to stay here?"

I suspected a "no" would result in meeting Papilion again. I nodded my head.

"Willing to work hard?"

I did my best woodpecker impression. Iola grunted at me.

"Fine. Follow me."

She led me to a run-down bamboo – I hesitate to call it a hut, it was in such terrible condition – structure, and opened the door.

"Get in." Her tone brooked no arguments. I got in. Door slammed shut behind me, and I heard – and saw, the walls weren’t really walls at all – Iola fashion a beam across the entrance, locking me in. I made a cry of protest.

"Now none of that. You’ll stay here while we figure out what to do with you."

I decided that shutting up was the better part of valor, and said nothing. Iola walked away, and I decided to explore my new, luxurious, one-person building.

It was filthy and run-down, the floor a mud pit from last night’s rain, holes in the ceiling and walls. Something vaguely resembling a cot was in one corner, and a hole in the ground in another. The smell was horrid. I had always thought outhouses bad, but this just brought it to a whole different level of terrible. It finally clicked that this was their version of a jail, and the size of it, and the lack of use it seemed to get implied one of two things were true.

• This was a happy, lovely community where they never had any reason to lock someone up. Just a bunch of murderous bandits living in peaceful harmony.

• Troublemakers were handled swiftly, and there was no concept of "life in prison"

My money was on the second option.

It was around this time when I noticed my money pouch was gone. It stung, but after nearly getting my throat slit, I couldn’t bring myself to be upset over it. Probably had gotten lifted at some point, and I was just noticing now. Crying wouldn’t help me here. I’d made my choices, and now I had to live with them.

I finally had a moment though, so I was going to fix my arm before any more problems occurred, and made it worse, or distracted me at a critical moment. Let’s see how bad the damage is.

Looks like it’s just one of the bones, completely broken through. Let me try something a bit fancier than just lopping everything off and regenerating it – seemed risky and inefficient here.

I was about to throw up a [Privacy], when a sudden thought hit me. If they couldn’t see me, or saw I was doing something in secret, what would they think? They were already on edge about me, I didn’t want to give them more ammo. I couldn’t see anyone nearby, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone. Fine, public-ish healing time.

What needed to get done? I needed to align the bones, get rid of fragments, and heal the bone back together. I wasn’t completely sure what was going on in there, and while my stomach had improved massively over the years, I wasn’t quite ready to be happily fiddling with my bones. A [Deaden Pain], [Remove Tissue], and [Detailed Restoration] later, I had a whole arm, and some terrible new memories.

My flesh wriggling as it was rearranged by bones being magically regrown in them was seared into my mind, and I’d love a skill to selectively edit memories out of my head. I waited in anticipation, ready to ditch [Lost and Found] for when the system inevitably trolled me with the skill.

[*ding!*] Yes, here we go!

[Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 47!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 92!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 100!]

So much for that. I took a deep breath, almost gagging on the stench. Maybe with some of my skills, I could clean the pit, and make the smell better. It was just a ton of bacterial decay, wasn’t it?

I went over, and took a look in. I had regrets. I tried to reach out with my skill, to [Attack Bacteria]. Nothing. I just didn’t feel the skill work, activate, anything. It’s hard to describe, but it was like there was no purchase for the skill. That, or I was out of range.

Thinking about it, I had always been hands-on when using healing skills. No reason why this wouldn’t also be hands-on, and there was no way I was going to be hands-on with this problem. Fine.

I examined my cell. Might as well work on breaking out – subtly! I didn’t want to alert anyone watching me to what I was doing, but I’d be damned if I was caught with my tunic down. It also sounded like they wanted to discuss my fate, but I was done with letting other people decide what happened to me.

I dramatically threw myself onto the cot, and pretended to cry. I discretely touched the walls of the cell, and tried a [Remove Tissue]. Nothing happened, I guess dead bamboo didn’t count as tissue. Somehow, I still had my knife, although I wasn’t going to try drawing it and attacking the walls with it. I did have my hand though, and my previous experience taught me that I could use [Surgeon’s Scalpel] on it. I tried just that, applying it to just a single finger, hitting the wall in a fake tantrum.

Absolutely nothing to the wall, but my hand was a different issue. A [Detailed Restoration] fixed that up, and I was slightly rewarded for my efforts.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 93!]

I hadn’t gotten learning levels like this in ages. I didn’t think any of my other skills would help, although if I was a Dark mage instead of a Dark healer, I’d be out in a heartbeat.

They might not have left me alive long enough to test things out if I had a mage tag. That thought made me shudder.

I was left alone for hours with my thoughts, going round and round in circles, thinking similar thoughts and dozens of other things. I was forced to slow down, to stop, to actually meditate on the choices I’d made that lead me here. Did I regret my choices? Some of them, yeah. I could’ve been much more careful, much less carefree. I could’ve picked another direction. I could’ve kept my eyes peeled for the Rangers.

Did I regret leaving home? Not in the slightest. My fate would be my own, my freedom would be mine alone. Would I make different choices? Absolutely. Like bring a tent. Not being kidnapped by bandits.

I laid there, bored out of my mind, unwilling to try more destructive or obvious methods to break out of the cell, as night fell. The cook swung by with a meal, passing it to me through one of the larger holes in my cell like he’d done it a hundred times before. Maybe he had.

"Hey," He said cheerfully. "don’t worry too much! This happens to almost everyone."

"Oh?" I asked, tilting my head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Iola’s one of the leaders here, and she’s convinced almost everyone is a spy, sent by the guards, or otherwise out to get us. Basically, everyone new ends up spending some time here while the entire council chats. Everyone gets released and joins up. It’s not worth worrying about. Iola worries though, she’s just trying to keep us safe. Once you’ve joined you’ll understand."

That was promising! "Thank you! That’s great news!" I kept still, feeling my pulse race. Staying alive! Release from the cell!

"I hope you don’t take this the wrong way" I started, hesitantly. "Why the banditry?"

He scratched his head and shuffled his feet. "Well, we don’t really have too much of a choice now. How else are we supposed to get money, food, medicine, and other goods? Once you join us, that’s what you’ll be doing."

I frowned at that. Spending my life in the forest, murdering people, was not on my bucket list, and [Oath] screamed at me just for the idea.

"Maybe I could just heal people instead?" Anything to not spend a life as a bandit.

"Do you really have healing skills?" The cook asked, leaning forward, excited gleam in his eye.

"Yeah! I’m a Light and Dark healer, and I have [Detailed Restoration]." I bragged a bit, showing off. It sounded like a bunch of people would be deciding my fate, and cook could be one of those people.

"Could you fix my hands?" He showed me small burns and cuts on his hands.

"Ouch! How’d a master cook like you do that?"

He gave me a look. "My classes aren’t cooking related. I picked up a job that needed to be done when I got here, but I was a field hand. Not much farming to do here." Made sense. Mid-life job changes seemed to be much harder in a world where you picked a class early in life, and who could compete with someone that had skills?

Saying nothing, I took his hands and healed them.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 65!]

Huge smile on his face, cook left me alone to my dinner. My exceedingly unappetizing dinner with the smell. I’d done some major healing today though, and I needed all the food I could get.

I finished my food, and seeing absolutely nothing else to do, or seeing anything at all really, it got dark here at night, I settled in to sleep.

Chapter 34

HOW FAR DOES AN OATH GO?

I woke with a jump up to a pillar of lightning striking the observation tower in the middle of Verdant Village. A roar of thunder, a blinding clap of lightning, and I staggered around blindly, ears ringing. I fortunately managed to dodge the latrine hole, and leaned up against the walls of the cell to stop myself from falling over.

After a few moments to recover, I stood up. I could see the orange glow of flames behind some buildings, and there was a lot of yelling and shouting, people running around all over the place. The sound of steel on steel met my ears, and I decided that there was no way I was going to get caught here, and that I’d take my chances that nobody was watching me. What would they do to me anyways?

First, gotta see what’s going on. [Flashlight] to the rescue! Alright, time to escape, forget trying to be subtle about it. The walls seemed to be a bust – or not. They were holey, but solid, and I couldn’t fit myself through the holes. The door was just a simple door, and I was locked in by bamboo stopping the door from swinging out, like a barricade.

Hang on, could it really be that easy? Let me see. I stuck my hands out through the holes in the cell, and got a terrible grip on the bar. Inch by inch, I wiggled it out, slowly moving it piece by piece. This would take way too long under normal conditions, but the flames were rising, and screams of pain and agony were joining in on the clashing of steel, the crackle of flames, the cacophony of shouting. I had time to break out.

Yes, it was that easy! The bar fell out of one of the sockets, planting itself in the mud, still half-locking me in. That was enough for me to force the door open a hair, and squeeze out. Freedom! I turned to run away from the action, and paused.

People were hurt. People were getting hurt. People needed help. Was I just going to leave them? [Oath] was silent on the issue – it was a damn literal thing at times.

I struggled with the question, shifting from foot to foot as I debated.

They were bandits.

They were human.

They had kidnapped me.

They were in pain.

There was no time for a debate, just action.

My feet turned, and I found myself once again running towards a fire. I was totally going to get offered a [Fire Rescuer] related class at my next evolution. The screams were getting louder as I ran towards the action, and I turned the corner to a scene of butchery.

What immediately caught my attention were the gaping holes in the walls, blown in by some massive force. There was some sort of fight going on, much further away from me, but it didn’t seem to be headed by way. Much closer, and something I could actually manage, were people on the ground, thrashing and screaming. I ran over to the first person I could find, someone lying relatively still. There were dozens of people who needed help, and I wanted to start off easy.

I rolled him over, only to see his chest was a gaping, bloody mass of gore, eyes glazed over. He was dead. It hit me then, really hit me, that people were dying here, that this wasn’t an accident scene, but an attack of some sort. This wasn’t some accident, this wasn’t a candle being forgotten about, this wasn’t a random lightning strike, this was direct, visceral murder. And I had thrown myself into the middle of it, blood on my literal hands.

I threw up at this, dry, heaving sobs with a backlight of Verdant Village burning, crescent moons rising, bathing the scene in their crimson light, forest throwing crazy shadows. Someone ran towards me, stumbling, falling near me. [Centered Mind] brought me back to reality, [Oath] demanding I help. I shuffled over to the man who’d fallen, seeing a slim arrow coming out of his lower back. I grabbed the arrow, and unceremoniously yanked it out of him, tearing out a hunk of flesh from its barbed end. He started to scream and thrash, arms like whipcords. I fell back, and realized I should’ve probably killed his pain first. I went up, and hit him with a [Deaden Pain], then a fast, horribly inefficient [Detailed Restoration]. He started to slow down, but he was looking pale and green, deeply sick. His eyes started to bleed, and I realized there might be more to his injuries than I initially thought.

[Attack Bacteria] got me nothing, then I had a sudden, terrible thought. I tried [Cure Toxin], and got immediate, violent purchase, draining over 700 mana in a single skill. I waited a moment or two, trying it again, finding huge amounts of mana draining again. I checked my mana reserves. 669/2140. From escaping, and saving just one person. I looked around at where I was. There were dozens of people on the ground, some still moving.

I’d never manage to completely heal everyone. Thoughts for later, there was someone else to heal. No [Deaden Pain] here, I needed every last bit of mana I had, insane regeneration be damned. Stopped his leg bleeding horribly. Another with a gut injury, patched up the worst, need to see him again later. Another arrow, this person dead. Those arrows were poisoned, no doubt about it. More, and more. Some screaming for help, some thanking me when it was done. Everyone running away, flames petering out. They never got the momentum needed to be a full blazing, a raging inferno. A body, I dimly recognized as Gregorios. A woman grabbing me with one arm, screaming at me to heal her as she bled from the stump of her other arm. No mana left. I tried anyways, small spurts of [Detailed Restoration] trying to get enough arm left. She started to shake me, harder, then softer, life slowly dripping to the ground. An arrow skimmed past me, taking her, mercifully ending her.

What had been the point of trying to save her, if she was just going to be snatched away from me anyways?

The sound of fire and steel were vanishing, leaving the deadness of ash. Ash in the air, ash on the ground, ash covering all. Ash was the connection to death, ash was the finality, the last remnant, and coated in ash I found Iola, injured in a half dozen places. I ran to her, sliding in to get down and near faster, quickly assessing what had happened. [Detailed Restoration] on the injury most likely to kill her, still out of mana. My regeneration was at 4,358 points per hour, but in devastation like this, it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.

"You." Iola snarled at me. "This is your fault. You led them to us."

"Led who? Let me heal you." Iola tried to sit up, and somehow, even with the tiny amount of strength I had, I was able to push her back down, to lie down while I used [Detailed Restoration] as fast as I could to try and keep her together.

I stayed, because there was no more screaming. No more men crying out for their mothers, no more women begging to be saved. Their cries had turned to ash, ash that was continuing to clog the air, cloy my lungs, and punctuate the end of this farce.

I don’t know how long I sat there, trying to bring Iola back from the brink, when the crunch of boots on burnt bamboo came from behind. I whirled around, hand on my knife still at my waist, and saw a spear coming for me.

"Elaine!?" A sudden cry, and the spear veered off to the side, nicking my shoulder. The voice was familiar, he clearly knew me, but who was it?

"Hey Artemis! Elaine’s over here!" The Ranger shouted.

"Alright, if you’ll just move to the side, I can finish off this bandit." Kallisto, that was his name.

"No." I said, looking at his eyes behind his helmet.

"Excuse me?" He asked in disbelief.

"I said no. I won’t stand aside." I had a filthy tunic, a knife, a healer class, and no mana. He had more than twice my level, a full set of well-used armor, a large shield, a spear in hand, and a sword at his waist. There was only one way this could end.

"Explain." He said curtly, pointing the business end of the spear in my direction. Some of the other Rangers showed up at this time, watching.

"My self-created Oath. I swore I’d do no harm. I swore that I’d protect my patients. Right now, she’s my patient, and I’ll do everything I can to protect her." My words and voice were much calmer than my knees, who were busy betraying my true emotions. [Calming Aura] and [Centered Mind] were working overtime keeping me from collapsing.

I got an amused chuckle from some of the other Rangers. Kallisto stopped pointing the business end of the spear at me. "And what do you think will happen next?" He asked.

"I dunno. I really hope it doesn’t start with ‘murder Elaine’ though." I said.

All five of the Rangers there – I didn’t see Arthur, and with his bulk, he was impossible to mistake – suddenly tensed up. I felt an arm go around my chest, as a knife – my knife! Was held against my neck.

"I fucking knew it." Iola said. "I knew you were a fucking spy. Nobody’s as dumb as you are. I should have slit your throat right then and there on the road." Iola tightened her grip on me, knife once again gently pressing into my throat. "You damn government dogs just can’t leave us in peace. All we wanted is to be free! And yet, here you are, unable to leave us be, murdering us in our sleep. I hate you." She spat at that.

"Relax, I’ve got this." Artemis’s friendly voice rang out. Artemis! I was saved!

"You sure?" I identified Julius’s voice.

"Yeah."

"Alright."

"HEY! Pay attention, or your little friend gets her throat slit! She’s good at healing, but not that good, and she’s out of mana! So listen up! You’re going to stay there, and we’re going to walk out. I see any of you move, she’s dead." Iola was waving back and forth, trying to put me between any and all of the Rangers at the same time.

"Healy-bug. You’re free from your Oath at this point, right?" Artemis asked.

I will only take up a knife to defend myself or my patient. Defending myself from a patient – well, she wasn’t a patient anymore, not after threatening to kill me.

"Yes!" I gasped out, barely being able to get a breath out from her restricting arm.

"Remember Damonus."

What did she mean by that? Damonus, who bred wind weasels. Damonus, who took out my dad’s eye. Damonus, who Artemis insisted was a threat, and not to leave threats behind.

Damonus, who Artemis tried to get me to kill. The act she insisted was needed to become a mage.

Was I now Damonus? Was the warning that I was going to be killed in cold blood? That seemed likely, but not what Artemis wanted to tell me.

Ah. "Free yourself. You’re only independent if you can fight for it." That was the message. I closed my eyes as I felt myself being dragged back. I only had one chance at this. What to use, what to use.

"You’ve got me?" I asked.

"Shut up!" Pain exploded in my head as Iola headbutted the back of my head. Nothing spare for a [Deaden Pain].

"Always." Artemis said, with such conviction I knew it to be true.

My mana was regenerating fast, but I had one last trick up my sleeve. Well, in Iola’s hand, but same thing. My knife. It was my knife, and it still had the Arcanite in the pommel. The Arcanite attuned to me. Grabbing mana from Arcanite felt different for everyone. For me, it was like breathing in, and breath in I did, filling myself up with mana. It wasn’t a ton – just a few hundred – but it was enough.

It was a habit to say skills out loud, to let people know what you were doing, to stop people from getting ideas, or getting worried. It wasn’t needed. I pictured Iola’s knife-hand as corrupted, preventing healing from happening in the rest of her body, from letting me heal others. My skill wouldn’t work otherwise. It was close enough to the truth for my skill to find purchase, to work.

I started with [Deaden Pain], to give myself an extra moment of time. [Remove Tissue] removed a hair-fine slice of wrist, initially not noticed by Iola, bloody hand falling to the ground.

She did notice the rock that Artemis threw at her, accelerating to absurd speeds from her skill. She tried to dodge, to slit my throat, finding a stump where her hand used to be. An explosion of gore, and I was desperate to be freed from her dead grasp.

[*ding!* Your party has slain an [Experienced Maid] (Earth, lv 166)// [Bandit Leader] (Fire, lv 75)]

"So." Artemis started. "Fancy meeting you here."

Fancy that.

Chapter 35

UNLESS THEY'RE SHARED WITH EVERYONE! I

"I’m dead curious" Artemis started. "How on Pallos you managed to beat us here, when we were looking for this place."

I blushed at that. "I erm, might have run directly into their ambush…" I responded, voice trailing off. Maximus started laughing at that. "I told you we should try that!" in the most I-told-you-so tone of voice I’d ever heard.

"Yeah, yeah, I’m never going to hear the end of that, now will I?" Julius responded rhetorically.

"You don’t seem too surprised that I’m not in Aquiliea?" I half-said, half asked.

"Nope. I had money on you running away. Thought it’d be a few more years before I’d collect though, not three days. Speaking of, pay up." Origen silently took a few coins from somewhere, and passed them to Artemis, who somehow made them disappear. In full combat gear to boot. I was impressed.

"But – if you knew – wha-why?" Too many questions to ask, not enough time to say them. Artemis snorted at me.

"You were always way too independent to be shackled down. I did try to warn Julia, but did she listen to the runaway expert? Nooooo."

Kallisto interrupted at this point. "I’m sure this is going to be a heartwarming reunion, but while we have a Light healer here, I’d like to take full advantage of her." He looked to Julius, who nodded.

"Anyone else need Elaine’s services while we’re here? If not, you’re on cleanup. Otherwise, have Elaine fix you up." Julius paused a moment, thinking.

"Elaine, you wouldn’t mind, would you? We can pay you a fair amount for it." I held my head high, shoulders back. I was the healer here! They were asking me nicely! They were being respectful! They cared!

"Of course!" I said cheerfully. "Come right over! Mana’s still regenerating, but it only takes a bit of time to fill right up!"

With that, Kallisto and Maximus started stripping armor, while the rest of the Rangers vanished on me. I started looking at them, seeing a tapestry of scars that made Artemis look clear-skinned. Kallisto had some nasty-looking slashes on his elbow, and dozens of bruises where he'd been hit on his armor, the force transferring through. Would be a lot worse than a bruise without that armor of his.

"How do you normally get healed?" I asked, curious. They clearly didn’t have a healer on-hand, but they also had so many injuries there had to be more going on.

"Time. Origen can also set up a weak healing field to speed things up. First rule of fights though – don’t get hit. Then you won’t need healing. It’s rare for us to get banged up in a fight, although this group was larger than we thought. No Classers though, thank the gods." That reminded me of the unpleasantness we were in, the smoldering embers on floating ash painting the scene.

"Why were you hunting them? Do you hunt all escaped slaves?"

Kallisto snorted at that. "Escaped slaves aren’t even business for the guard, let alone us. Hell, we help some escaped slave communities – we’re all people, we’re all part of the Republic, and in a year or two ‘escaped slave communities’ turn into just another village. No, this lot had turned to banditry, and a particularly nasty type at that. Usually you hear about folks getting robbed on the road, or attacks leaving survivors. They didn’t believe in that. Murdered every single person that saw them, probably hunted down anyone who even thought about leaving them. No, this was a vicious group of bandits, one of the worst, no matter how they tried to paint themselves as ‘innocent escaped slaves just trying to make a living’." He spat at that.

"More than half of them probably came from a farm in the first place! They knew how to farm! They knew how to do a thousand other things! Setting up rocks in the road, killing who they could, that was their choice. They lived with it, they died with it."

"How did you manage to find them?" I asked, healing a less serious wound.

"Believe it or not, you." Maximus said.

"Me?"

"Yup. Arthur noticed you being hauled along, and followed. Lead us right here. He wasn’t sure if it was you or not – your face changed a bunch he said – but Artemis was sure, so we attacked a bit early. To our great surprise, here you are!"

"But how? I didn’t even notice him!" I said in surprise. How did I miss a miniature mountain watching me?

A sound like gravel came from behind me. "Nobody ever notices me." I jumped at that, but it was hard to get a lot of height while sitting down.

"How-" I started.

"Did I do that?" Arthur finished my sentence. "I get that all the time." He shrugged. "Have the right class, work on the skills, dedicate yourself to it, care about it, and you could also get that good. I was impressed when you were able to stop my poisoned arrow – first person I’ve seen that’s done that for someone else. Self-healing skills aren’t unheard of, but that was something else. Speaking of, you probably just got a thousand levels or so didn’t you?"

I should probably check on that, yeah. I braced myself, and allowed myself to see my notifications.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 99!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 100!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 101!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 100!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 105!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 94!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 102!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 49!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 78!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 94!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 98!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 43!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 61!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Cure Toxin] has reached level 56!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Cure Toxin] has reached level 81!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 86!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 99!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 66!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 101!]

My eyes bulged out at that one. [Oath] was insanely hard to level, in spite of trying to follow it every day, and I had increased it almost 40 levels in a single go.
That was almost a 50% increase in level. Unheard of past level 50.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 82! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

….

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 88! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 105! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 123! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 105!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 118!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 82!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 88!]

"Tell me everything." Maximus had the eyes of a fanatic, pulling out a bamboo scroll and charcoal. I figured I needed to make nice with the Rangers if I wanted to tag along with them, and making nice started now.

"Well, I got about twenty levels in my Light class, but only six in my Dark class." I started off.

"Probably were using the Light class a lot more than the Dark." He commented, making notes. "Arthur mentioned you managed to heal someone from his poisoned arrows, is that right?" I nodded. He turned to Arthur. "Did you get any levels in your poison skills for someone opposing it?"

Arthur swatted him. "You know I’m not telling you."

Maximus rolled his eyes. "You know I try to help you all level up, and information helps."

Arthur grunted. "It’s my skill. I don’t want to say."

"Fine, fine. What else Elaine?" Maximus was relentless.

"40 levels in my Oath skill!" I puffed out my chest at that. Arthur swatted Kallisto.

"What!?" He exclaimed, sounding hurt.

"Habit." Arthur grunted.

Maximus was muttering to himself. "Any thoughts?" I prompted him.

"Yeah, you’re batshit crazy. Also batshit crazy results in amazing levels. You’re either going to die young, or get a high level. Or both. I recommend slow and steady."

I snorted at that. "Let me guess, you’d classify Artemis as batshit insane as well, wouldn’t you? That’s why she’s the highest-level here while being the youngest one here."

All three of them started to violently deny that they’d ever think Artemis was crazy. I felt the back of my head getting cuffed.

"Owe!"

"Who are you calling crazy, hmmm?" Artemis asked, hands on hips.

"Not you! Never you! Nope. It was them." I said, immediately selling out the others. They violently shook their head in denial. Bah.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Come on, let’s head back to camp. Elaine can spend the night with us, least we can do for her healing us. Elaine, do you need anything from here?"

"Nope! I’m all set!" I said, barely thinking about it, not wanting to separate from Artemis or cause them any problems.

We wandered over to their camp, well-hidden in the forest. One moment there were bamboo shoots, and the next, like magic, there was a small campsite, with a wagon, two horses, a few tents, and a small firepit.

Julius showed up, noticed me.

"Glad you’re here Elaine. You can spend the night in the wagon." Artemis made a noise of protest. "Artemis, you can spend the night in the wagon, bunk in a tent, or set up your own tent. You know it’s a luxury to be in the wagon." She closed her mouth, looking disgruntled.

"Err, Artemis, I woul-" I started, only to be interrupted by Julius.

"Elaine, you’re our guest. It’s only right. Artemis will deal."

And that was how I ended up in a sleeping bag next to Artemis in the wagon.

"Psst hey Artemis, are you awake?" I asked

A groaning noise, something like a "no". Eh, probably wasn’t a no, who can answer questions when they’re asleep?

"Was that lightning bolt you?"

An affirmative mutter.

"That was so cool!"

Grumbling noises. Sheesh, would it kill her to chat a bit?

"Hey Artemis-"

"Go to sleep!!!!" She turned over, throwing her pillow over her head.

Harumph. Fine. Sleep it is.

The morning rolled around, and I felt all sorts of greasy and disgusting. It had been days since I last saw a bath, and mud, blood, rain, prison, and more had all conspired to make me filthy. Eck. I left my sleeping bag and the wagon to the sight of all of the Rangers around a fire, watching Origen cooking breakfast.

"Elaine, so glad you could join us." Julius invited me over.

"Thank you!" I minded my manners, sitting in the circle.

"We need to pay you for your healing yesterday, here." He handed me some coins. I took them, and [Lost and Found] pinged, reminding me that I had gotten my own pouch stolen. Whoops.

"Thank you." Remember manners. I awkwardly held the coins in my hand as I steeling myself for my request.

"Soooooo…" I drew it out, committing myself but not wanting to commit. "It seems like you’re missing a healer."

"We don’t usually have a healer. There are two healers in the entire outfit, and they stay at headquarters to handle the most major injuries – like limb removal, persistent poisons, poorly healed wounds, curses, etc. Healers don’t travel with teams though." Julius explained to me. Kallisto butted in.

"I’d love a healer though. I’m always getting beaten up. One of these days I won’t make it."

I took one last breath, and decided that this was it. This was my in, and I’d give up anything to make it. Anything.

"I’d like to join your team." I said, and waited for the explosion.

"Sorry Elaine, no." Julius responded. "We could use a healer, sure, but you’re too low-leveled."

Time to let some secrets out of the bag. "You know I have that [Oath] skill right?"

"Yes, and?" He said skeptically. I was grateful that he was at least listening to me, and not blowing me off. I only had a few chances to make my case.

"It multiplies my power and control when I’m healing. I have over 1300 magic power, and over 4400 magic control. Sure, I’m only level 123, but I suspect I’m close in control to your healers, if not in power."

That little bombshell of mine got raised eyebrows all around. Maximus jumped in.

"Your skill gives you six times as much power and control!?" He leaned forward, eyes widening. Time to show off.

"Yup! And it’ll only get stronger as it levels!" I possibly had two people on my side now!

"I’ve heard of boosting skills – skills that boost a stat or four under given conditions – but that degree is ridiculous. I suppose being confined to two stats helps, but…" The plain-looking man trailed off, making inarticulate calculating noises.

Julius made some thoughtful noises, then shook his head.

"I’m sorry Elaine. You’re only 14 – too young. At the end of the day, you’re nothing special."

Nothing special? Nothing special? I could feel some anger rising inside of me. I’ll show him.

"What if I was special?"

Chapter 36

UNLESS THEY'RE SHARED WITH EVERYONE! II

Julius snorted at that. "Every teenager thinks they’re special, something important. Grow up. You’re not. Go home, marry the dude, have a few kids. Live life."

I bite back anger at that. I needed to be thorough.

"Is anyone here like Artemis, and on a hair-trigger? I don’t want to get stabbed halfway through this." That question got a bunch of tensing up, and hands on weapons. I held my hands up. "I solemnly promise I’m a human." That got nobody to relax – Artemis hadn’t tensed up in the slightest. I glared at her. I’d assumed her hang ups were their hang ups. She threw me a bone.

"She’s harmless all. She’s a dual-class healer. She couldn’t hurt us if she tried." She paused, thinking. "There might have been a slight incident or two in the past which has made Elaine paranoid…." Everyone turned to give Artemis a flat look. Clearly, I hadn’t been the first incident of Artemis being on a hair trigger, or the last, since even the new Rangers were giving her a Look.

"Fine, now that I know I won’t get murdered halfway, I’d like to make a bet with you. I bet I can convince you that I’m actually somewhat special, or at least unique. I convince you that I’m unique and useful, I stick with you. Otherwise, I’ll go home, like you said." Julius snorted at that.

"And who gets to decide?"

"You do. You could listen to everything I have to say, and decide otherwise. I won’t protest. I honestly believe I can convince you, and convince you so thoroughly you’ll agree."

Julius rolled his eyes at that. "Fine. We usually take a break the day after a fight anyways, make sure there aren’t hidden problems lurking around. You can talk while you remain entertaining." Anger flared up again, and while I had decided to tell them, it came out faster and more biting than I’d intended, with no build up.

"I’m not from Pallos."

That bombshell got me the full and undivided attention of every single person there. Artemis laughed.

"I know your parents, Julia and Elainus. Of course you’re from here."

I shook my head at that.

"Not originally. Ok, long story time. I was originally born on a planet called Earth, had a happy life, grew up, went to school, had friends, a family, etc. Sometime around the time I was 20, I died. I don’t know how or why, but my soul got lost somewhere in the cycle of reincarnation, and Papillion picked me out of the cosmos. He gave me a choice – reincarnate as normal, here on Pallos. Or reincarnate with some of my memories intact. Something about a baby’s head not being large enough, and some knowledge being ‘too dangerous’ to let run around." That last part was with bitterness. I’d never felt whole and complete, not with giant holes in my memory, with gaps in my knowledge. It was part of why I’d been able to integrate and adapt so well here.

Artemis pointed at me with her mouth wide open. "You liar!" I jumped at that.

"I never lied!"

"You let me believe your starter class was because of the Earth element!"

Oh that. "Yup! But I never said it was because of it!" I said cheerfully.

Julius interrupted. "Artemis, report."

Artemis snapped to attention. "Sir! When I first met Elaine, she had just awoken. I helped her train her general skills to level 8, then helped with her initial free point distribution. I forgot about the power-control trade-off being so important at low levels, and had her assign 24 points to the Magic stats. That gave her a 10-10-9-9 distribution. I almost fried her when she said she had more points, thinking she was a monster. She told me her class was [Child of Earth], which had more points than [Child of Pallos], or [Child of Remus]. It was a Metal-aligned class. Which is how she got a perfect 10-10-10-10 for her first class-up. I assumed she was simply loved by the Earth element. Sir!" She paused for a moment, thinking. "She also somehow shot up to level 32 immediately after classing up, and has another class-up. Julia, her mom, assumed it was my fault. Due to various incidents, I didn’t look into it. Sir!" Everyone groaned at the last part. I looked at Julius, impressed. What was this power to command Artemis! I wanted.

Granted, it was a Wood class, not Metal, but potato, potato.

He said nothing, turning to Maximus, who was practically actually drooling.

"Ahem, yes." He started, wiping his mouth. "I’ve never heard of the class [Child of Earth]. Additionally, while people are occasionally loved by the elements, the templating’s all wrong. It would’ve been [Beloved by Earth]. Surface-wise, it checks out."

Julius snapped back to me. "Continue talking."

"I’d estimate my aggregate age as somewhere in the mid-30’s" I started, carefully not mentioning that my mental maturity was indeed 14, and that I had the mindset of a 14-year old. Years as a baby did nothing for you either way, and being treated like a kid made one regress to being a kid. If nothing else, it didn’t advance my mental maturity, so I was, at best, somewhere around 20. My age was a mess.

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Anything and everything you can remember. Arthur, Origen, start taking notes."

I didn’t want people taking notes, but I wasn’t in charge here. I wasn’t being forced to give any knowledge out, but I was asking for a favor. A massive favor. I could survive some notes being taken. I grabbed a shoot off the ground, and started to draw in the dirt.

"So, the world is a sphere, and it looks something like this." I started, poorly drawing a map of the world from what I could remember.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Recollections of a Distant Life]!]

I needed every ounce of help to convince them to let me join. I ditched [Knives] for the skill, dry retching as the skill left me.

Maximus interrupted. "Just got a new skill?"

"Yeah." I replied, shaky.

"Which one?" He was fishing for something. Truth first. Integrity first.

"[Recollections of a Distant Life]." More looks, more shrugs.

"What are skills like on Earth?" Maximus had a one-track mind.

"There are no skills on Earth. Not like here. There’s no magic at all, no system, no stats, nothing."

"How does anything work? How are humans alive?" Arthur jumped in.

"Well, we use science to figure things out, and technology to make things."

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Recollections of a Distant Life] has reached level 2!]

That was going to get really old, really fast. I disabled notifications for the skill, trusting that it’d level up in the background, helping me out.

"That just sounds like more magic, with a different name." Artemis was skeptical. Trust the mage to be skeptical of a non-magical place.

"No, it’s not. It’s an accumulation of knowledge. I know one thing. I teach the next person that thing. They learn another thing. They pass two things on. Etc. It’s much easier with books, which just don’t seem to exist here!" I cried out in frustration.

"What’s a book?"

"It’s like a scroll, but more compact. Here, hand me a few scrolls." I was dutifully handed a few blank scrolls. "Imagine instead of rolling them up like this, you spread all of them out, and layered them on top of each other. It’s sealed on one end. You can then flip through the ‘pages’ one at a time, to quickly access information. See? You can even write on both sides." I flipped through my makeshift ‘book’, demonstrating what I meant. "Usually the pages are more uniform, and much, much thinner, but yeah, this is a book."

"What else?" They were hooked.

"Numbers! Your numbers are all wrong!" I complained.

"What do you mean?" Kallisto asked.

"You have a representative system. Look, here’s 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 in your system" I said, drawing out a I, V, X, L, C, D and M. "It’s obnoxious in the first place, and completely fails at higher numbers. Instead, let me show you what we call Arabic numbers that we use on Earth." With that, I drew out a 0 – 9 on the ground.

"Actually, before I get started, who knows about zero?" Julius and Origen both raised their hands.

They explained the concept of zero to the others, and then I explained the Arabic numerical system.

"What use is it?" Artemis asked, pretending indifference, totally hooked.

"It’s good when you’re dealing with numbers larger than 1000… and generally just all-around better, once you get used to it."

"Hang on, if you know a completely different number system, you must know other languages." Julius jumped in.

"Yeah, English. It’s a messy language, and it’s not easy to teach."

He still looked thoughtful.

"Do you know what you don’t know?" Arthur asked.

"Kind of. I can be led to blanks, I know where some blanks in my memory exist, but generally, I’ll be thinking of something, and I’ll lead myself right to a blank. I do know I have almost all of my biology knowledge."

"So you know how the four humors work?" Kallisto asked. I snorted at that.

"The four humors are completely wrong. The human body is massively complex, and there’s no easy way to explain it. It’s like a town. Saying a town is a mix of four humors is just wrong. There’s thousands of people, each doing their little part. There’s the walls keeping everything in. The roads for people to travel on. Buildings for them to live in. Water and food going in, waste going out. Rocks coming in to fix buildings. A governor to oversee everything. Guards keeping the peace. A human body can’t just be summed up as ‘four elements in balance’, it’s too complex for anything simple."

"So how do diseases work?" Maximus asked.

"Well, what’s the smallest creature you know of?"

There was some thinking, some looking back and forth. Clearly, this was a new thought.

"Well, there a…"

"But a baby version is even smaller."

"There’s tiny bugs."

I held my hand up, stalling out the argument.

"There are tiny creatures, so small we can’t see them, that can think we’re food, and invade. Our bodies have their own town guard, and they can usually beat up the trouble makers and throw them out. Sometimes though, they get a foothold, and can do terrible damage to a body. Think of a town with no guard, or a crumbling town – easy for vandals to do damage." I was pretty pleased with my analogy.

"That’s actually my [Cure Disease] variant Artemis – [Attack Bacteria]."

"How do you spell that?" Maximus asked, continuing to take furious notes. I spelled it out for him.

"However, there’s more than just bacteria than can cause problems. Bacteria are giants compared to viruses. It’s why I can heal some diseases, and I’m useless against the cold. The root of the disease is different." Teaching was fun!

"How do you know all of this? Were you a healer on Earth?" Julius asked. Success! He believed me!

"No, just a normal student."

"Student?"

I hit my forehead with my palm.

"Yes, student. For the first 18 years of life, almost everyone is educated. Math. Science. History. Literature. Music. And so much more. It’s how we keep accumulating and passing on knowledge. Relative to the actual doctors – healers - on Earth, I know nothing about the human body. I only have what’s considered common knowledge – but the basic knowledge is enough for skills here to work off of. I imagine healers trying to use the four humors method have terrible efficiency."

Artemis made a noise of agreement. "You restore and heal just as fast as some of the more experienced healers I’ve met. I never thought about it, since I assumed that was the normal healing speed, and I know shit about healers. But yeah, now that I think about it, you heal like someone two or three times your level." She paused, thinking. "Might just be your [Oath] skill instead though."

Julius was still deep in thought, Origen and Maximus writing furiously, filling up scrolls.

"What are some bad aspects to Earth, that are better here?" Yikes, it was like a job interview. Thinking about it, this was a job interview.

"The beauty standards!" I immediately blurted out, then blushed. Why did I have to say that?

"Elaborate."

"Well, there are pictures" I quickly explained the concept of pictures, and preserving a moment in time for eternity. They were fascinated by the concept. "But they can be edited. So you’re constantly measuring yourself against fake pictures, against people that can’t possibly exist. Women have it hard as well – expected to constantly shave, always be skinny, always look good, always have a smile on your face. It’s exhausting. I hated it, hated that I had to conform to those standards. It’s so much freer here." I thought about it more.

"I miss shampoo. And bras. And not needing to worry about lice or ticks." I shuddered at the last one.

More explaining. More back and forth. Religion. Governments. Guns. Glasses.

"How do glasses work? They should be replicable here, right, like everything else?" Kallisto asked.

"Well, yes. It’s simple, and hard at the same time. All they do is – they work by – argh! Damn holes!" I cursed as yet another piece of information turned out to be a hole in the swiss cheese that was my head. Dozens of ideas, hundreds of concepts – I had the gist, I could explain half of it, but when push came to shove there was this gaping hole in my memory. I could give the idea, but I could import almost nothing.

Origen said something for the first time. An order, a command, a request? I couldn’t tell, but it made sense.

"Stories."

That I could do. [Recollections of a Distant Life] was past 40 and rising fast, a blistering pace. I started off with a simple one, The Boy who cried Wolf. I moved onto Beowulf. I had always loved reading, and I had a thousand tales to tell.

The Iliad. I had them hooked.

The Odyssey. They were entranced. Stories didn’t last thousands of years without being good.

I continued to introduce new cultures, new parts of the world, with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. New ideas with Frankenstein. Don Quixote. Romeo and Juliet. Macbeth. The Divine Comedy. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Dracula had everyone nodding along – were there vampires here? Animal Farm went right over their heads, and I decided to stick to more grounded works of literature. To Kill a Mockingbird went over better, but I made a few subtle swaps on slavery over racism. Aesop’s Fables were a complete hit, King Lear less so. The Tale of Genji. A Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Only a fraction of those. Moby-Dick. Alice in Wonderland. Oedipus. Midas. The Bible. Cinderella. Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

It all came to a screeching halt with St. George and the Dragon. Like so many books that required background and context, things I’d believed were natural, they needed things explained to them.

"What’s a saint?" Artemis asked, leaning in. She was engrossed, like the rest of my audience.

"Well, when the Roman Church thinks someone’s particularly holy, and sent from god, they call them a saint." I explained patiently.

"That’s the one with only one god, right? They don’t like adultery?" Kallisto was particularly sore on that point.

"Yup!"

"And what’s a ‘dragon’?" Arthur asked, using the English word for it. I didn’t have the Pallos Standard word for them, if it even existed. He liked hunting things.

"Ah. Big winged lizard, flies, breathes fire, powerfully magical, likes to hoard precious things."

"A Dragon!?" Finally, the Pallos word for it. At that, Julius tackled me, and put his hand over my mouth. He hissed, low and quiet.

"I believe you, now shut up. They hear you when you call."

Chapter 37

ON THE ROAD

"Everyone pack up, we’re leaving. Now." I looked up, startled, realizing night had fallen without me noticing, telling tales the whole day.

I quickly checked my new skill.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Recollections of a Distant Life] has reached level 55!]

I was happy to see a skill go up so fast, but I suspected I wouldn’t have much use for it in the future. Ah well, I had a free general skill slot now. Maybe I’d start working on [Knives] again, although it’d be hell to try and train from level 1 again. Probably should have ditched [Lost and Found].

I wanted to ask if I was in. With the speed everyone was moving at, I figured hopping in the wagon, and just being taken along for the ride was the better move. Easy to say no. Easy to deny me. Easy to just accept that I’m along for the ride. Right now, being easy seemed to be the name of the game, and I hopped on, staying as silent as a mouse. As things were thrown in the wagon, I made sure they were neatly packed away as best I could. Make myself useful. Make myself indispensable. In a few minutes of well-practiced chaos, we were on the move, Artemis hopping into the wagon with me, jerking her head back when she saw me.

"Oh, you’re here." She said.

"Everyone, silent." Julius ordered. "Kallisto, reins. Arthur, patrol. Move, move, move, we need to leave as fast as possible."

Everyone else sat in the wagon on the little benches to the side as Kallisto and Arthur followed orders. I decided to show that I could be a good little Ranger, and follow orders. Clearly Julius was spooked, and while nobody else seemed scared, nobody was arguing with him either. I decided to spend some time looking around.

It wasn’t clear from the outside, but the entire wagon had sheets of metal going around it, and there was a door to both the front and the back of the wagon. Shelves of supplies were around, boxes under the benches, and some food hanging from the ceiling, waving back and forth as the wagon swayed as we were moving. Runes glowed with power all over the inside, forming a complex network that connected to multiple Arcanite stones embedded in the walls. I wanted to whistle – this wagon was as well-equipped as a fortress, and as expensive as some mansions!

I started to drift off to sleep, only to be jerked awake.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 103!].

I looked around, wide awake and alert. Julius had said to be quiet, and I wasn’t going to say anything, but I also wanted to make sure nobody was hurt. I should say something if someone was injured, and [Healing Aura] only leveled up when it was working. Usually it was dozens of people getting minor amounts of healing over a long period of time – fighting off a small cold, having a little scrape heal a hair faster – but with so few people, it was less likely to be a scratch.

At the same time, I wanted to show that I could follow orders. I wasn’t about to start making trouble and get thrown off, not so early.

An exasperated sigh came from behind me. "Elaine, report." Julius commanded.

I tried to mimic Artemis as best I could.

"Sir! My [Healing Aura] skill went off. Only happens when it’s working. Wanted to see if anyone was hurt, but stay quiet as well."

"Was it running all day?"

"Yes."

"And it only leveled up now?"

"… yes."

"Probably fine then. We’re all a little banged up. If you ever think someone’s injured, barring obvious circumstances, say something."

I nodded at that, screaming internally. He’d explicitly said to be quiet! Didn’t that count as obvious!? Artemis patted me on the arm, clearly recognizing my internal dilemma, but saying nothing. I felt her discreetly slip something hard, but flexible into my hand. I took a peek.

Dried. Mango. Yessssssssssssssssss.

I shot her a grateful look, to get a happy smile and a nod back. I slowly savored the piece of mango as we continued rocking along.

"Listen up. You can all chat now if needed. Artemis, you’re on second shift with me. Origen, you’re with Maximus on third shift. Elaine, you can get a full night’s sleep until I know you’re good on a shift."

I wanted to ask about Arthur, and when he’d sleep. I decided to offer up a skill instead.

"I have [Greater Invigorate], maybe that’d help someone stay awake?"

Julius nodded at me. "Go ask Kallisto if he’d like a boost. Everyone, try to get some rest."

I popped my head out, and like someone making a coffee run, I asked "[Greater Invigorate]?"

Kallisto kept his eyes on the road, but nodded. I zapped him with it, snickering as I saw him jump.

"Do you do this often?" I asked, gesturing all around me.

"Which part? The leave in a rush, the midnight rides, the picking up strays, or the Pallos-shattering revelations?"

"Yes." I responded unhelpfully. Hey, I wanted to know it all.

I got a Look in response to that particular piece of sass.

"We often leave in a rush. It’s rare for us to be running from something – not much can threaten a prepared and awake Ranger group – but yeah, we’ll often hear about some monster roaming the area, or goblin attack, and we need to move fast to get there. By the same token, we’re often traveling through the night. Wagon’s crowded when we’re all trying to sleep in it, although not as crowded as when we started."

That was a fairly sobering reminder that Ranger squads were in theory eight-man, or woman, squads, but rarely were at full strength.

"As for picking up strays…" He eyed me significantly. "Rare, but not unheard of. Usually it’s someone fairly high-level out in the wilderness who’s heading the same way we are, or a retired soldier in a village helping us out with a local pest."

"In terms of challenging everything I know and believe to be true, you’re the first."

"Hey!" I protested. "I couldn’t have changed that much!"

Kallisto started to tick points off of his finger. "We’re not the only humans. There are multiple worlds. The gods take a much more active interest than I believed. Everything we know about medicine is wrong. The afterlife works completely differently. Do I need to continue?"

I hung my head at that. "Sorry."

He shook his head at me. "Better to know than not. Still, it’s going to take me time to work through all this. You should get some sleep."

I wanted to stay and keep chatting, but there wasn’t much to see. How we managed to keep horses moving in the dark, I had no idea. Probably some sort of Ranger magic. Actually, I had to know.

"One last fast question, then I’ll get out of your hair."

"What’s up?"

"How are the horses able to see in the dark? Wouldn’t they break a leg?"

"Origen did some of his Inscriptions on the reins. No idea what it does, but it lets them move at night."

"And –"

"Good night Elaine."

Fine, fine. I left him to it, retreating back into the wagon. Nearly everyone was asleep in various uncomfortable looking positions. I found a spot near Artemis, curled up, and the swaying of the wagon rocked me to sleep.

I woke up screaming the next morning, desperately trying to grab my knife, trying to fend off nameless, faceless attackers. Artemis burst in, looking around wildly, then crouched and slowly approached me, gently pushing down my knife before wrapping me in a hug.

"Shh, shh, it’s ok, it’s just a nightmare, it’s not real, they can’t hurt you." I was hyperventilating, searching desperately for threats that weren’t there. Artemis’s message eventually got to me, and trembling, I tried to put my knife away. I didn’t have [Knives] anymore, and nicked myself three times before managing to put it away.

I followed my nose, poking out to a campsite mostly setup. I gingerly sucked on my fingers as I stepped outside, getting a good whiff of myself.

Oh, dear gods, I stunk. I stunk horribly. And it was only four days since I’d left home. No wonder Artemis sank into a bath whenever possible; I’d quite possibly murder for one right now. I took a look at my fellow campers. Some were bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, some looked like coffee would be a blessing. Or were just up half the night on watch. Little of column A, little of column B I suspected. Not a single one looked clean though. Dirt and grime was the name of the game, and I suspected we’d just be accumulating more until we hit a town – or a stream.

"Elaine, glad you could join us." Julius invited me over. "Now that we have a few moments, let’s all chat. Do we let Elaine join us, or not?"

I felt my heartrate rapidly increase, palms sweaty, as I tried to keep a poker face. I wasn’t being dismissed out of hand! I wasn’t being sent away! A discussion on if I could stick around or not was being seriously considered!

As a huge grin split my face, I realized I should never gamble, as I accepted a bowl of food from Origen.

The golden Kallisto started. "I vote yes. And before you kill me Artemis - It’s not because of her looks!" He made a defensive gesture in Artemis’s direction. "I get off-limits. No, I’m the one that’s in front of everyone, and there should be three of us, not one and a half. The odds of me making it to the end of this round without a healer like Elaine is between slim and none."

Julius nodded at this. "Maximus?"

"The interesting thing about skills," He started. "is they respond to perceived stress. Elaine must’ve gotten over 50 levels in her memory skill in a single day. Yesterday was literally do or die for her – from her perspective at least." He paused, collecting his thoughts.

"Of course, that’s not the only factor, but it, shall we say, weighs on the scales. I believe that there’s so much I – and we- can learn from her, and from a different perspective. So few people have created their own skill, or have a novel skill, and Elaine has at least two before she’s 15. Three if you count that bacteria skill. She might even have more. Most of those seem to also be from extra knowledge, which the system also responds to. Watch this." He turned to me. I gulped, being in the hotspot.

"Elaine, looking at us, looking at what skills and classes we have, what do you think we could do that we’re not currently doing?"

Holy interview question. "I, erm, uh, I, uhhh – don’t know your classes and elements." I fumbled, not expecting the question, answering around a mouthful of food.

Maximus rolled his eyes. "I can form almost any weapon out of metal. Same with armor. Arthur has a Poison element class. Artemis you probably know. Origen can inscribe most types of magic. Julius is all about speed. Kallisto is our sneaky front liner, who can charm most anyone – and I mean for information, not for other reasons."

I spent a moment thinking about it. "Maximus, can you start sketching out what weapons and armor you do know in the ground? I might as well know what you know, otherwise I might just suggest more of the same." Ok, good, moment to stall.

"Origen, can you make a box cold?" He looked thoughtful, then slowly nodded. "Well, food becomes bad when germs – err, bacteria – same thing – eat it, then produce toxins and waste. If food’s cold, then germs can’t grow on it easily. You get to keep food fresh for longer." A fridge, a fridge, my kingdom for a fridge! Fresh food was constantly around in town, but on the road, I noticed everything we had was preserved. Made sense, but maybe this would be enough.

"Arthur, your poisons are kind of slow, and people can keep moving when hit by them." I started out, thinking of Australia. So many poisonous things. Arthur grinned at me, clearly pleased. "Yeah, I know it does."

That got some groans, and Artemis threw a bone at him. "Arthur, one of these days that habit of yours is going to get you killed." Julius started. I shuddered, not wanting to know more about this.

"Oook, I’m going to leave that issue alone. Just know there’s something called a blue-ringed octopus, where a tiny amount of poison will instantly disable a person. Maybe that knowledge is enough for the system to work off of?" I hedged.

"Artemis." She perked right up at that, looking at me. "I’m not quite sure how all of this works – there’s a lot of blanks around this – but there’s lightning inside of every person. A tiny amount, but if you ripped lightning out of a person, they’d just stop moving, drop dead." She looked thoughtful at that.

"I’ve never felt it, but I’ll try. I suspect if it’s as small as you say though, I’d need much higher control to make it work."

[*Error* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has decreased to level 100!].

Chapter 38

VOTING ON ELAINE

I retched as that notification came up. Artemis rushed over.

"What’s wrong? Are you ok?" She asked, patting me all over. "Was it Origen’s terrible cooking?" He lightly punched her, clearly thinking I was fine.

"Oath skill." I choked out. "Lost a level for that."

Maximus raised an eyebrow. "What exactly is in that oath of yours? We should know before voting." There was general nodding of heads at that.

I thought about it, and told them:

First, do no harm.

Healing is my art.

I will use all of my knowledge and tools at my disposal to heal those that come to me.

I will heal those I see to the best of my ability.

I will apply all measures that are required to my patients.

I will never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain.

I will not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means.

I will defend the patients under my care from harm and injustice.

I will only take up a knife to defend myself or my patient.

I will admit when I don’t know how to heal a patient.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, and hold in confidence anything that is said to me.

I will teach and spread my knowledge to the best of my abilities, asking for no recompense.

I hesitated at the end though, not wanting to share the last line, something I considered one of the most private and intimate parts of myself. I will not forget you. Julius could see my hesitation, and to his credit, asked questions instead of pulling it out of me.

"There’s more, right?" I nodded.

"Does it restrict you?" I shook my head.

"Could it cause a problem for us or you in any way, shape, or form?" I shook my head.

"Alright, you can keep it to yourself." The relief must have shown on my face.

"Maximus?" Julius asked.

"Not to be too obvious, but it’s probably the ‘First, do no harm’ part. She’s given us at least one way to better kill a person, maybe two. The System is recognizing that she’s helping harm other people with this knowledge, which means her suggestions are legitimate – and potent. Given how much of her use to us is being a healer, and we have the ‘kill stuff dead’ part down pat, I recommend we stop asking for lethal suggestions." He thought for a moment more. "Unless she knew of ways to de-escalate damage – like a weapon that crippled more than killed." I shuddered at that cold calculus. It was becoming clear that violence was cold and calculated here, and exterminating dozens, if not a hundred, bandits in a night was called "Wednesday".

Julius absorbed this information, looking thoughtful.

"Could your oath interfere with a fight we’re in?" I thought about it. I worked it over in my mind, examining it from several different angles.

"… Maybe. I need to think about it more. See it in action." I hedged. "I know if someone’s injured, and not an immediate threat, then I’d probably jump in. No sense in allowing someone who’s no longer a combatant to die." Frowns all around. Uh oh.

"If I told you to let someone die?" Julius asked. I closed my eyes at that, and took a deep breath in. Shit. This was it. This is where I got kicked out.

"I’d fight you on it. Like I tried to fight Kallisto on it the other day." I let my breath out in a rush. Artemis was beaming at me. Origen was looking at me with respect. Arthur gave a short, barking laugh. Julius just facepalmed.

"Fine. I have to respect your integrity, even if it’s going to cause problems and count against you. I also appreciate you telling me straight out, and not lying about it for it to be a problem later." He thought some more. "If we take Elaine with us – IF. New standing order – Make sure you properly eliminate threats, so we don’t get this problem. On the plus side, capturing people becomes easier – we can limb them and Elaine can patch them up." My stomach dropped out at this. I’d probably condemned people to die with that. Oath didn’t think so.

Maximus snorted. "I think I’ve made my point. I vote we keep Elaine."

Julius nodded at Maximus’s vote. "Origen?"

He looked at me, pointed at the sky, and said one word. "Brave."

I blushed at that. "No, no, I’m terrified of things, I’m not brave at all!" He snorted in derision at me, and I got the most words out of him I’d ever heard.

"Brave isn’t being fearless. Being fearless is stupidity. Brave is being afraid, and still doing it. You’re brave. You stay."

Artemis had a full-jaw dislocation going on. "You can speak! In complete sentences!" She was outraged. "You had me going on for weeks trying to get you to say more than one word at a time, and now you give Elaine a full lecture!?" Origen just smirked at her. She turned around in a huff.

"Arthur?" Julius kept going around the campfire.

"I vote we keep the world-traveler. We get all sorts of boring VIPs. Now we can have an interesting VIP!" Julius eyed him.

"Not the best reasoning, but a yes vote none the less. Artemis, I assume you’re in favor?" Julius said.

Artemis looked deep in thought. I took the moment to strike. "Some extra details – I told Julia that I’d be with you, and, well, just imagine what happens when you show up in Aquiliea and say that you have no idea where I am. You also owe me a big favor still!" I grinned cheerfully at her, enduring the thunderous looks shot my way.

"Blackmailer." She accused.

"Shamelessly so." I tossed my hair as I confessed, looking at Artemis in a half-challenging, half-teasing way.

Julius facepalmed. "Please don’t extort my team."

Artemis melodramatically flopped over. "Julius oh Julius! I must vote yes, for the fiend has dirt on me! I fear for my existence, nay, my wallet, if I were to say no!"

We all laughed at that, a deep, binding laugh, bringing us together in the way only shared faux-misery at one of our own can.

Julius made an agreeing noise, and turned to look at me.

"Alright Elaine. From what everyone’s saying, and from what I’ve seen, I believe you’ll be a net positive for the team. You have two choices. First choice: Join as a tag-along. You’ll be with us, but not part of the team, and can leave at any time. However, you’re expected to pitch in on all chores, tasks, and activities. Second choice: You don’t join us, and we drop you off at the next town."

This is what I wanted. This is what I’d been going for. "I’d love to join as a tag-along!" A chorus of happy cheers came from everyone except Origen, who simply pumped his fist.

Artemis chimed in at this point. "You should cut your hair short healy-bug. It’s terribly hard to maintain it on the road, and it’s already matting up."

I flushed in embarrassment again. Did she have to point that out in front of everyone!? Locking eyes with her, I drew my knife, bunched my hair up, and in one sharp move cut it pixie-short, like hers.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 94!].

Still staring at her, I dropped it in the fire.

"No!"

"Not the fire!"

"Arrrrrrgh!"

Small bits of flaming hair went everywhere. Whoops.

I fled back into the wagon.

An hour or two later, I decided I could show my face again, and popped back out. I was lucky that nobody had needed anything. Artemis was levitating rocks around her and playing lightning, doing some complex dance with them. Origen seemed to be inscribing a bracer with magic – I had no idea if this was maintenance, or making a new one. Maximus and Julius were sparring, Julius moving at incredible speeds while Maximus tried to fend him off. Kallisto was doing some push-ups, then sit ups, then swapped to more exercises, while Arthur was nowhere to be seen. Given how blasted sneaky he was, he could be right beside me. I narrowed my eyes, trying to find him somewhere. No luck, but Julius noticed me.

"Hey Elaine! Welcome back!" He waved, and jogged over.

"Feeling better? Losing a level in a skill must suck." He nodded slowly at me. Cover! Blessed cover! Praise Julius!

"Yup! Thank you!"

"Alright Elaine, now that you’re with us, I’m going to need a nearly full breakdown of all of your stats, skills, and levels. I recognize that most people like keeping their information secret, and you have more secrets than most to keep. Our standard is you can keep one general skill, and one skill from each of your classes secret. Artemis vouches for your honesty, but I’d rather you tell me that you can’t say a skill instead of cover it up with something else. You never know when I’ll rely on a skill you say you have, or miss something because of a skill you failed to tell me. It’s extra-important that I get all of your healing-related skills. I can’t be thinking you can save someone when you can’t."

I thought about it, looking over my skills. I didn’t really have any skills I wanted to keep secret, except for one. I told him my skills:

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 14]

[Mana: 2390/2390]

[Mana Regen: 5288]

Stats

[Free Stats: 32]

[Strength: 20]

[Dexterity: 20]

[Vitality: 20]

[Speed: 32]

[Mana: 239]

[Mana Regeneration: 666]

[Magic Power: 236]

[Magic Control: 743]

[Class 1: [Light of Hope - Light: Lv 123]]

[Light Affinity: 118]

[Calming Aura: 101]

[Medicine: 105]

[Healing Aura: 103]

[Detailed Restoration: 78]

[Flashlight: 90]

[Greater Invigorate: 96]

[Centered Mind: 98]

[Class 2: [Shadow Healer - Dark: Lv 88]]

[Dark Affinity: 88]

[Deaden Pain: 61]

[Surgeon's Scalpel: 78]

[Attack Bacteria: 69]

[Parasitic Remover: 35]

[Tissue Removal: 76]

[Cure Toxin: 81]

[Privacy: 67]

[Class 3: Locked]

General Skills

[Identify: 65]

[Recollection of a Distant Life: 55]

[Vigilant: 99]

[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 100]

[Lost and Found: 60]

[Running: 55]

[Learning: 93]

There was no way I was letting them know about [Pretty].

Julius looked thoughtful. "An appearance-related skill as your last skill?" I watched my foot scuff some dirt. I practically heard the smile in his voice. "Don’t worry, I’m not prying, it’s your secret to keep."

"Right, healing information time. What can you fix, what can you not fix?"

I looked back up. This I could do!

"I can handle most injuries if someone’s not dead – I think. I haven’t gotten too many chances to try it out. But just about everyone I reached the other day, I was able to keep alive." I started.

"I’d be surprised if you did have many chances to try it out." Julius said dryly.

"Blood loss! I can’t handle blood loss at all right now." Julius whipped out a scroll and charcoal, and started to take notes.

"About half of diseases I can try to tackle – depends on the source." I continued.

"This relates back to that errr," Julius quickly consulted another scroll. "’bacteria’ thing you were talking about?"

"Yup! Viruses are the other part, and they’re tiny. They’re to bacteria what bacteria are to us. I imagine I’d need much higher control before I can try to work on them."

"How can you tell if it’s a virus or bacteria?"

I shrugged. "If [Attack Bacteria] works, it’s bacterial. Otherwise, it’s a virus, toxin, parasite, or the body attacking itself." I got a flat look at that. I hurried to add in, making it seem like I wasn’t constantly guessing. "The [Medicine] skill helps fill holes. Having the framework helps, the skill continues to fill in for me."

"Carry on."

"I don’t think I can handle something like an arrow stuck in someone." I said, remembering watching someone get hit by Arthur’s arrow.

"Couldn’t you just take the arrow out?" Julius asked.

"I mean, yeah, but the idea is if you have part of a weapon stuck in you, the only thing I can do is physically dig it out with my hand or with [Surgeon’s Scalpel]. And that has a lot of blood loss."

Julius finished that thought for me. "And you’re not able to handle blood loss right now."

"Exactly."

"What else?"

"I’m not sure how many poisons I can handle, but it hasn’t gotten a hard test yet. Arthur’s was the hardest I’ve ever dealt with, but I was able to cure it in the end. Oh! I know I can’t handle heavy metal poisoning yet."

"Heavy metal poisoning?"

"Yeah, lead and mercury and the like."

"Why are they called heavy metals?"

"Well, because… because…. Ug. I hit a blank."

"So you’re telling me." Julius summarized slowly, carefully, watching me. "That mercury and lead are both poisons?"

"Oh yeah. But they’re really slow. And you need enough. They slowly drive you insane before making you fall apart."

He looked at me with a mixture of horror, anguish, and disbelief.

"Elaine, those metals are everywhere!"

Aww fuck.

Chapter 39

SHEEP'S FORD

Julius sighed and rubbed his eyes. "A problem for another day. First off, we need to teach you how to defend yourself, then figure out how to work you into our formation. Ok, to start-" Julius was interrupted by Artemis storming over.

"No. Absolutely not." She was thunder and fury.

"Artemis, she needs to know how to defend herself!" Julius protested, suddenly no longer the fearless team leader.

"Yes, she does. But not from you. You know how to fight like a speedster. You know how to lean on your stats, and you’re a great team leader, but you only have one style. She needs to learn how to fight like a mage. She needs to know how to fight when disadvantaged on stats. You rely on your fighting skills to help you know what to do, which doesn’t help someone with no skills. I’d bet one of the first things you’d say is ‘just trust in your skills, they know what to do.’ You’d break her in half, and spit out the chunks. No. I have experience as a trainer. I’m the mage, I know how she should fight. I’m teaching her."

Julius held his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine, she’s all yours, on your head be it."

Artemis turned to me, a demon’s grin on her face, mad laughter practically radiating from her.

"Is there any chance that-" I tried to save myself.

"Nope!" Artemis cheerfully interrupted. "You’re all mine now!"

"My first question to you," Artemis began, slowly pacing around me, examining every inch, stripping away every secret with those lightning green eyes of hers. "is ‘What do you know about fighting?’ Any secrets from beyond this world?" I thought about that some. Not terribly hard though.

"Absolutely nothing. Besides don’t fight." I said.

"Don’t fight eh?" Artemis mused over that. "Yeah, that’s about right. You especially, you don’t want to be in a fight. You have no skills for it, no stats for it, and no stomach for it." Each word was like a boxer’s punch – weighty, but with some soft padding on it. Didn’t stop them from hurting.

"However, you do have the heart for it, which is the most important part. Now, normally I tell mages to get a grip, hit them with their strongest spell or skill if they have it, and run away if they don’t, until they do. You’re a bit special. I’ve never trained a healer who needs training to be on the front lines. So, first rule for you."

She stopped pacing, turning to look right at me, boring into my very soul. "Don’t fight. If it looks bad, run. Run to one of us. Run into a stream. Climb up a tree. Yell. Flash your [Flashlight] skill. Do anything and everything needed to not be in a fight in the first place. Everything else – all the other training we’re going to do – will be based on you being cornered, on not having any other choice, or we’re throwing you in because we’re desperate. Rule 0 though – Don’t fight. Understood?"

I nodded to show my understanding. Artemis glared at me.

"You need to be verbal Elaine. This isn’t fun and games. Say things, don’t assume I can see that you’re nodding. Good way to get someone killed."

"Yes Artemis! I understand!" I shouted out, with as much vigor as I could. I heard Kallisto break into laughter. I flushed with embarrassment, but kept steady.

"Very good. Alright, the rules say we can’t dictate other people’s skills, classes, or stats, and that we have to work with what we’ve got. That being said, you’re going to be putting your free points into Dexterity, Speed, and Vitality. Strength’s going to do almost nothing for you – we just can’t get it up high enough with everything else to make a difference. With that being said, at some point I’ll be throwing you to Julius, so you can learn a tiny bit of his style – it suits a low-strength build. I’ll have to consult with Maximus for more ideas." Artemis thought a bit more, then nodded.

"Right, we’re going to start with standing."

"Standing?"

Artemis then rearranged me into a particularly strange way, half-squatting, legs burning.

"Whyyyyy" I groaned out, fire spiking through my thighs.

"Because it’s good for you!" Artemis cheerfully replied. Sadist.

"Don’t give me that." Artemis scolded me. Mind reader! Help! Not even my thoughts were safe! "Arthur would be 10 times worse. Do you want me to hand you over to him instead?" I shook my head, redoubling my efforts.

How to stand. How to run. How to fall. How to do push-ups, burpees, jumping jacks, sit-ups, and a dozen other exercises I thought I knew how to do, but turns out I didn’t. I still hadn’t seen a single weapon, punch, or piece of armor, but I knew enough to shut up and let the expert work her magic.

Arthur eventually came back with some game, some sort of small dinosaur, and there was much celebrating at the hot, fresh food. I devoured my share ravenously, eagerly inhaling each bite. Tasted a bit like gamey pork.

Kallisto had an idea as we were eating. "You know, we never have enough money to properly supply ourselves." He started off. My ears perked up.

"We have plenty." Julius said.

"Yeah, but we could have so much better stuff if we could just use what we confiscate." Kallisto said.

"You know the rules. Down that path lies problems." Julius said.

"We could have properly upgraded gear. Enough Arcanite to keep everything constantly fueled. And I know a way how!" Kallisto triumphantly pointed to me.

"Elaine!" He pronounced.

"Me?" I pointed to myself, unsure.

"Yes you."

"What about me?"

"Well, you’re not a Ranger. You’re a guest, staying with us. And it’s not unheard of for Rangers to split the loot with tag-alongs that are helping them. So why don’t we split the loot with you, say, 80-20, enough to keep our bosses happy, then you can buy us things we need!"

Artemis, Arthur, and Maximus chimed in with appreciative noises. Julius’s forehead wrinkled.

"It’s awfully close to being a problem." He hedged. The idea was getting to him. "Although Kallisto, you just want more money for the brothels. And Arthur, you’re just chiming in so you can pay bards to write more songs." They both looked guilty at that.

I surprised myself by speaking up. "No." I said. I got looks all around.

"Look, on one hand it smells. Sure, it might be following the letter of the law, but everyone involved knows the spirit’s getting violated. I’m not quite following why it’s a problem, but who knows if they’ll decide it’s close enough, and penalize us anyway? Also, I’d like to formally join up one day, and I don’t want to risk it." That last part got a cheer from most of them. Artemis looked as pleased as a mother hen.

"If you really want to split with me, 10-90. It looks fair, it smells fair, I get a bit of extra money," I stuck my tongue out at Kallisto, who’d looked crestfallen at that. "and a bit of extra supplies possibly ends up here. After all, it can’t be much worse than – " I was interrupted by Artemis jumping in.

"Yes, great idea!!" She gave me a "shut up right now" Look, and I realized with a start the gifts she’d gotten for us might not have been kosher with Julius. I shut up.

"I probably don’t want to know what that was about. Fine. Elaine, while you travel with us, we’d like to offer you 15 in 100 of whatever loot we get that doesn’t belong to someone else. Do you accept?"

"I accept." I said, as formally as I could. The sun was setting, and we decided it was time to turn in.

Nighttime was split into three shifts. "Used to be four." Arthur confided in me. "Problem is, moment you’re down from eight, needs to be three shifts. Less sleep for all of us." I wasn’t allowed to be part of a "full" watch yet – I was just an add-on for two other people.

Like this, we passed our days, time flying by like a sparrow, trotting along like the horses pulling the wagon. Skipping like Artemis made me do, instead of traveling comfortably inside the wagon. traveling in the day to our next location – usually with me running by the wagon, working on [Running] and general fitness. Artemis had a particularly sadistic exercise where I needed to sprint ahead on the road, touch a rock, and sprint back – repeatedly. Who knew, even with magic being active made a difference. "The base body matters tons for skills and levels." Artemis lectured me. "It’s why we’re stronger than some monsters – goblins and the like – at the same level, but weaker than other monsters – like most dinosaurs – who are the same level as we are."

Setting up camp in the evening. Telling more tales around the fire. Learning how to fight from Artemis. Learning Ranger lore and knowledge while on watch. We practiced having my [Flashlight] on, flooding the area with light. We practiced with it off. We tried [Greater Invigorate], and that was a blessing for everyone involved on watch, although Julius muttered something about "not getting used to it."

[Vigilant], [Flashlight], [Identify], [Learning], [Calming Aura], [Light Affinity], [Centered Mind], [Privacy], and [Greater Invigorate] all leveled up as we travelled along.

A few weeks went by, and we were well into fall, although heading north, so it balanced out, when we reached the village of Sheep’s Ford.

"Ok team, everyone here knows the drill, except for Elaine. So we’re all going to get the full lecture, for Elaine’s benefit." Julius started out, as we turned the corner and saw the village in the near distance.

"First off Elaine, you’re not a Ranger. So you can’t claim to be a Ranger, and we’ll be seven different types of mad at you if you do say you’re one. With that being said, you can say you’re under our protection. I sincerely hope you won’t need to. You can be alone only if you have some sort of wide-ranging signaling skill. For Artemis, it’s her lightning bolts. We can see them anywhere in town. Arthur’s also ok to be on his own, he has whistling arrows. You see a bolt, you see a whistling arrow, you go to them. Origen, Maximus, Kallisto – any of you have a new signaling skill, or construct?" That last one was directed to Origen, and they all shook their head in denial.

"Didn’t think so. Elaine, do you have a signaling skill?" He asked, with one part great formality, three parts ‘oh dear lord the paperwork and routine I need to follow’. I suspected that this speech was given exactly once at the start of their round, and never again.

"Yup! [Flashlight]!" I demonstrated, making a pillar of light inside the wagon. It got brighter and brighter, until it started to be an actual pull on my mana and people complained.

"Right" Julius paused to blink the spots out of his eyes as Artemis rubbed them. "When I feel more confident in your ability to handle yourself, you can be solo. Maybe. Your skill doesn’t make any noise though, I need to think about this more. Until then, you’re with Artemis. Origen, you’re with Kallisto, Maximus, you’re with me. Kallisto, if you sleep with another married woman, you’re doing the clean-up for the next week." A groan came from Kallisto as everyone else laughed.

"So how does it work when we’re in a village?" I asked.

"Well, first we announce ourselves." Artemis jumped in, taking the role of teacher. It was boring at times in the wagon, even walking by its side only had so much appeal. "We see if the village chief, or mayor, or whoever their head is, has any obvious problems they want to tell us about. Then we take a few days of ‘vacation’, but we do it in a really obvious way, saying hi and being seen by as many people as possible. If someone has a slightly more subtle problem, or one that’s not so easy, we find out about it."

Maximus had a few coins to add to the discussion. "It helps that we’re seen as well. It reminds people that the Republic is still here, that they’re helping. Helps with local stability."

"Is stability a problem?" I got looks from everyone implying I’d asked the stupidest question on Pallos.

"Do you live under a rock?" Arthur asked.

"No, under a metal roof." I shot back.

"The slave rebellion of 4782. The uprising of ‘90. The revolt in ‘75. Bandits. Deserters. Do I need to go on?" Arthur bit back, no holds barred.

"There was that mess in ‘70!" Maximus had to chime in.

"Also a slave rebellion in ‘68." Julius added his wisdom to the mess.

"We cleaned up that mess earlier this round." Artemis added in. I guiltily remembered the diamond she gave me that I’d lost.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Stability good." I was never going to let slip I’d been offered a [Revolutionary] class.

We rolled into the village, and it was almost as easy as Julius had described it. Artemis had always vanished to the baths the moment she arrived in Aquiliea, and I was completely prepared to be right behind her as we tried to find a local spot here to do the same thing. We got a spot that wasn’t quite as nice as the baths had been, but were a sight for sore eyes, and a major upgrade from a freezing stream behind [Privacy].

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh." Artemis let out a long, content sigh as she lowered herself into a tub of hot water. "I’m never leaving here." I looked at the supply of firewood we’d paid for doubtfully. We’d be leaving in a few hours. "Hey Artemis-" I started, only to get interrupted.

"Sh sh sh. No. This is time for peace, and quiet. And for Listening." She emphasized that last word strangely.

"Listening?" I asked.

Artemis cracked one eye open to look at me, then leaned forward conspiratorially. "Yes, listening. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d gotten tons of information from just listening. Pair of women Rangers, here? No Kallisto trying to hit on them? No Maximus being social? No Julius and his stern look? We’re peaceful. We’re clearly relaxing. You have [Calming Aura]. If a woman has a problem, one that can’t be shouted from the roofs like a pimp forcing prostitution or something, it’s here she can go and talk with us. It’s here we can hear it, all with the excuse that we’re taking a relaxing bath, that we’re off duty. It’s here where you occasionally overhear interesting rumors. Secret is Elaine, we’re never off-duty. So relax the best you can, and Listen."

So, we did just that for three days. We heard no interesting rumors, we got no news, we didn’t get called for some major problem. We just let the dirt and the grime and the stress of the road wash off, and most of our spare coins washed out with them. The perils of needing to pay for everything.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 95!].

Chapter 40

THE ROAD TO VIRINUM I

We’d left Sheep’s Ford behind a few weeks ago, and my training continued as we traveled along the road to Virinum.

I was running by the wagon when I heard a low rumble, like far-off thunder.

A second rumble, like thunder non-stop.

"Hey Artemis, quit it with the bolts. You’ll scare everything away!" I tried to score some points on Artemis.

She popped her head out of the wagon, startling me. I’d assumed she was on the opposite side of the wagon.

"Bolts? I’m not casting any bolts." She said, as the rumbling got louder.

"Heads up everyone, something big coming!" Artemis yelled back. The horses got pulled off to the side, Origen dropped down and held the reins. Julius and Maximus jumped out, holding weapons. Kallisto was still inside, but from the bumping and thudding noises it sounded like he was putting armor on – or waking up from a nap. Arthur was nowhere to be seen, but he wasn’t seen if he didn’t want to be.

The thudding continued to get louder and louder, and around the bend came a monstrosity that had my jaw drop from the sheer absurdity of it.

A T-Rex was my first impression, but it was much smaller than I thought one would be. Maybe T-Rex’s were smaller than I thought, maybe this wasn’t a T-Rex. A middle-aged man with a military look and a beard the color of a dusky evening sky was riding on him, using leather reins and saddle, with dozens of bags and knick-knacks hanging off, swaying as he went. He was dressed in leathers, like guard leathers, and a Ranger’s eagle was pinned on his chest, sunburst instead of a circle around it. All normal, well, as normal as things got on Pallos.

No, what was stretching my belief to the breaking point, what was having me wonder if this whole Pallos thing was an intricate dream, was the entire getup were all brightly tie-dyed colored, a riot of colors that hurt the eyes to see.

I pinched myself, putting all my might into it. Only thing to do really.

"Ow!"

Well then. This was going to get interesting.

"Hail the wagon!" The man on the dinosaur called, dinosaur slowing to a walk instead of a thunderous roar.

Julius exited the wagon, suddenly in a nice uniform, Ranger badge pinned to his chest. I eyed him suspiciously. That was a ridiculously fast costume change, and why was he in semi-formal getup? The other dude did look like a Ranger, sure, but he was on his own, and he had a sunburst eagle pin instead of a circle eagle pin.

Julius saluted formally, and I got a sudden education.

"Sentinel Bluebeard." He called out with a clipped, precise voice. "What can Ranger Squad 4 do for you?" He asked.

Bluebeard brought his dinosaur to a full stop at this, saying "Whoaaaa" like you would a horse, did a double-take at Julius, threw his head back, and laughed.

"Ha! The local Ranger squad! Nice to meet you!" Bluebeard acrobatically leapt off his dinosaur, and landed in front of us. "Got time for lunch?"

Julius nodded stiffly, and I was getting the sense that his question wasn’t really a request. Everyone else started coming out, again dressed in nice clothes with their pins on. I eyed them suspiciously. They were never this well dressed or well behaved. However, I wasn’t about to open my mouth and potentially ruin things. Questions, so many questions for later.

We set up lunch, and Bluebeard contributed to the pot – fresh fruits and vegetables, a rarity on the road. I discreetly used [Identify] on him.

[Warrior]. Highest level I’d ever seen – higher than Artemis by a good chunk. I suppressed a whistle. Didn’t want to let him know I’d been peeking. What was the dinosaur?

[Abelisaurus]. I squinted hard. Seemed to be the exact same shade as Bluebeard, but I wasn’t entirely sure.

We settled in to a nice meal – dinosaur fortunately not thinking we were on the menu – and started chatting.

"What’s up with her?" Bluebeard asked, pointing at me. I bristled at that, but I was clearly the odd one out, being half their age and not wearing the Ranger’s uniform.

"She’s a local, hanging-on with us." Julius answered, giving me a Look. "Powerful healer, and we’re down our frontlines."

"Really? Does she have a [Restoration] variant?" Bluebeard asked Julius. I pouted internally. Would it be so hard to ask me instead of Julius? It was my skill after all!

Julius looked at me, and I could see him struggle internally. On one hand, he wanted to listen to the Sentinel’s request-order. On the other, he wanted to protect my secret, let me speak for myself. At that moment, I decided I’d follow Julius into hell. Or Hel. Or whatever the afterlife was here.

Hang on, I knew what the afterlife was, so—

"Yes, she does." Julius finally answered. Rats! I was going to answer and bail him out!

"Nice!" He turned and looked at me, stripping away all my secrets, looking into my soul. I looked away – I couldn’t take the intensity of the gaze.

"Mind topping off my heals?" He asked.

"Wha-" I started to ask what he meant, when Maximus jumped in, wrapping an arm around me. We were all getting along together, but this was awfully familiar behavior!

"Of course, she’d love to! For a small price. She’s independent! Free healing for us, a few coins for everyone else!" Under his breath, into my ear, he hiss-whispered to me.

"I’ll explain everything later. Just imagine a full-body heal on him, and do it."

I didn’t get the urgency, but I went over to Bluebeard and healed him anyways. He looked perfectly fine, but [Detailed Restoration] did take, and I lost a few dozen points of mana.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 79!].

"Ahhh, thanks! What do I owe you?" Bluebeard asked.

"What’s her name?" I asked, pointing to the remarkably well-behaved dinosaur.

"Katastrofi!" Bluebeard said animatedly. "She’s an Abelisaurus, we’ve been partners for decades! We’re bonded. She gets experience, I get experience, and vice-versa."

"Can I pet her?" I asked. This wasn’t quite asking for payment, but I was getting there. Dinosaurs had always been ferocious problems, something to take up arms against or run and hide from. A tame, mini T-Rex? I was in dreamland, surfing on a brontosaurus as it plodded its way through the country.

"Sure!" Bluebeard was cheerful when it came to his pet dino.

I handed my dishes off to Kallisto, and we went over to Katastrofi, and like that, the ice was broken. Everyone but Artemis wanted to pet her. Artemis continued to stay far away, giving her the stink-eye.

Nobody had asked, and Bluebeard hadn’t volunteered, so I asked.

"What are you doing around here?"

Bluebeard looked down at me and chuckled. "How much do you know about Sentinels?" He asked.

"Well, you’re like super-Rangers, right? Work alone, do heroic things like Gideon?"

"Close! Locals are able to solve most of their own problems. Rangers travel around solving just about everything else. When there’s a problem Rangers can’t handle, for whatever reason, a Sentinel gets called in to solve it." Bluebeard kindly, but arrogantly, explained.

"So, you’re better than a whole Ranger squad?" I innocently asked. Five pairs of eyes glared murder at me.

"Ehhh, yes and no." He answered. "I’m specialized. I hunt down high-level Classers that are causing problems, bring them to justice. Speaking of, has anyone heard rumors of Fire-Foot Felicity?" I’d never heard the name, and from the shaking of heads, neither had others.

"Darn. Ship-thief – she sneaks into boats to steal their goods, and has some sort of skill that leaves fiery footprints in her wake – everyone’s too busy dealing with the fire to chase after her. She’s given two Ranger squads the slip, so I’m now trying to find her." Bluebeard explained.

"Cool." I said, not really having anything at all to say. "Why the… interesting… color scheme?" I asked, gesturing broadly to the riot of color.

"It lets people know that she’s tame, and gives people second thoughts before throwing skills at her. Otherwise, dinosaur on the road? I’d be killing attackers every other day."

Seemed reasonable. Now, for the grand finale, the big question, the reason I’d been buttering him up.

"Can I ride her? As payment?" I pushed my charm to the max, wide-doe eyes, charming smile. Julius face-palmed, while Origen looked smug. Artemis had a look of slowly dawning panic, while Bluebeard looked amused.

"I see why you let her tag along!" He chuckled. I was torn. On one hand, I wanted to shoot him a withering glare. I was with them on my own merits, not because I was "amusing." On the other hand, I really, really, wanted to see what it was like to ride a bloody (mini) T-Rex!!!!

The part of me that wanted a once-in-a-lifetime experience won out, and my smile remained, although I could feel it straining somewhat.

"Ah sure, why not."

YES! I did my best not to shout and jump for joy like an idiot – I didn’t want him to think I was too immature to do this.

"Katastrofi. Friend. Friend." Bluebeard gently coaxed her. She turned to me, and lowered her massive jaw in front of me, mouth slightly open. Her teeth were like swords, curved and vicious. Her breath was awful, clear indication of a carnivore washing over me. She sniffed a few times, a soft growl escaping her, the sound of it roaring in my ears. I nearly lost my nerve then and there – how insane was I!?

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 99!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 105!].

"Alright, first you grab this strap here like this…" Bluebeard talked me through climbing the intricate ropes and harness, all while Katastrofi patiently stood there, slowly shifting side to side. I scrambled onto the top, got seated on the saddle, and was queen of the world.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 96!].

Normally I’d be ecstatic at getting a level in [Learning], BUT I WAS RIDING A DINOSAUR!

Sure, Bluebeard was behind me, steering, but it was exhilarating, empowering, to be on top of a multi-ton killing machine, heads and shoulders and an entire body above everyone else, feeling every lumbering step vibrate through me. Words didn’t do the experience justice. Excitement! Fun! Adventure! We lumbered in circles for a few minutes, with me whooping and yelling in excitement, having the time of my life.

"Can I try to heal her?" I asked as we took another step bigger than I was tall, as I felt power and strength rumble through my entire body.

"Sure, why not." Bluebeard shrugged. I put my best effort forth, but my skill felt slippery – that was the only word for it - and only a few points of mana trickled away. Was she in perfect health? Or was [Detailed Restoration] not for animals? Or could it be something else?

What would be needed for me to become a [Beast Tamer] myself? Forget that I was full up on classes, I wanted to know. I’d probably start with some small monster that I raised and tamed myself, something like a wind weasel, just… like… Damonus…

With that memory, with the thought that his life was on track, could’ve been something like Bluebeards when it was cut short, it was like a bucket of ice went over me. I shivered, no longer enjoying myself, and Bluebeard seemed to pick it up. He let me off, and I turned to him.

"Thank you." I said formally, saluting him the way I’d been taught.

"You’re welcome!" Bluebeard helped me off, looking carefully around.

"Your utility should be an Inscriptionist of some sort, right?" He asked. A muscle spasmed in Julius’s face. Origen stepped forward and nodded. Bluebeard looked at him critically.

"Laconia? Must be, with those tattoos. Hey, mind giving my harness the works? Been awhile since they last got touched up."

Origen didn’t say anything, verbally or not, he simply stepped forward and started looking intently at the setup around Katastrofi. His eyebrows twitching in a way that’d be muttering under his breath to anyone else, he started working his Inscriptionist magic. Or skills. Whichever one it was. I had too much [Medicine] in my head to try and learn yet another branch of magic, and if I was, Inscriptions wouldn’t be it.

Fireballs. Maybe beast taming. A cute, magical dinosaur.

Origen worked his magic for an hour or so, then stepped back, satisfied. Bluebeard took a look, and hauled himself back on.

"Strong work Son of Laconia. I’ve spent enough time here; I need to be heading out." Bluebeard waved back, and started to head out, Katastrofi creating earth-shaking booms on every step.

"Good hunting!" Kallisto shouted after him. In just a few minutes, the sound of thunder was just a distant memory.

"Arthur." Julius said.

"Yeah boss?" Like a magic trick, Arthur appeared in the middle of our group. I’d seen it a dozen times, and I still jumped at a mountain showing up. Like, if he was there all along, I wouldn’t be able to see Artemis. Did he just show up there? Did he move at light speed? Was he under the ground or something? So many mysteries!

"Why didn’t you say hi?"

"Well, I figured someone should hang out, keep an eye out, just in case. You know."

We all gave him a flat look at that. We all knew why he hadn’t shown up.

Arthur tried a bit of a recovery. "Plus, he’s the Hunting Sentinel. I mean, you know…" He trailed off.

Artemis snorted. "Just because he’s what you’re striving to be, doesn’t mean you can’t say hi. Who knows, maybe he’d give you some tips."

"Well, I was trying to see if I could evade detection from someone with as keen senses as him."

Kallisto provided a nice distraction from that conversation.

"What I don’t get," He started, washing yet another dish. "Is how you knew about the lady in Sheep’s Ford.

Julius sniggered, then threw his head back in a full-out laugh.

"I didn’t! I just gave you the dishes, and when you started doing them with no complaints, I knew the answer!"

That broke the silent tension that’d been omni-present ever since the amazing techni-colored dinosaur showed up broke at that, and we all had a good laugh at Kallisto’s expense, who was muttering about "entrapment", and "next time I’ll bluff", and other faux-dark expressions.

"Oh! Maximus!" I said. "What was all that about earlier?"

"Ah right. Lesson time Elaine. Artemis, if you’d be so kind as to give a demonstration for us as needed?" We all sat down in a little circle together, as Julius and Origen started packing up, while Kallisto kept cleaning.

Maximus straightened up, and assumed his "lecturer" position. He’d make a good teacher if he ever retired.

"As you know, some skills conjure the element, or the material, in question. Artemis, if you’d show us some Lightning please?"

Artemis dutifully made a bolt of lightning around her, moving so fast that it appeared to be a solid ring. I let out a low whistle. She was getting better and better – all of her practice was having results.

"Where does that lightning come from?" Maximus asked.

"Errr… Magic?" I hazarded a guess. I got an eyeroll at my poor attempt. Artemis was concentrating intently on her lightning, completely ignoring us.

"Yes, but no. There’s an entirely separate area of existence where all of the elements reside. When something’s removed with a Darkness skill, or otherwise removed because of a skill, it goes there. Similarly, anything that’s created from a skill, comes from there. It’s the grand exchange of how things work. Following so far?"

I nodded. Seemed easy enough.

"Now, for the most part, things that come in are rapidly brought back out. Artemis?" At that request, Artemis stopped her bolt, it winking out of existence.

"Fairly simple. Now, other material doesn’t get removed so easily. Artemis, if we could have a rock please?" Artemis dutifully conjured up a small stone.

"This won’t go away when Artemis stops focusing on it. It’ll stay. But!" At this Maximus raised a finger. "It won’t stay forever. It’ll slowly degrade over the next eight years or so into nothing. That’s why you can’t just wave your hand and make a building or town – you need to build it, or shape existing rock. It’s also why you can drink conjured water, but you’ll be a hair – just the tiniest bit, so small you couldn’t measure it – thirstier over time."

"Ok. What does this have to do with me?" I asked.

"Your [Detailed Restoration] skill works in a similar matter. You restore the flesh, creating it out of nothing. However, slowly, over time, it starts to degrade. Now, flesh is a bit different, since the human body itself does a good amount of the replacing for you – only small amounts end up vanishing out, to potentially cause problems. That does mean, every once in awhile, someone who’s gotten their flesh restored needs a ‘pick-me-up’, to shore up any problems. You only need it once after a major heal, like 4-5 years after it’s happened, and just about any type of healer can manage it – but it does need to happen." Maximus paused, thinking.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 97!].

"I know you did some major work on yourself – give it a try, see what happens."

I focused [Detailed Restoration] on myself, like he suggested. I felt the skill take hold, and a single point of mana vanished.

"Well… maybe something happened. Or maybe that was a blister I healed."

"Anyways, now you know. Another thing is – material that gets sent to this alternate realm, when it’s brought back, persists. It’s in such small amounts that it doesn’t really matter. Also, last thing to note – Sentinels, in the field, out-rank Rangers, by a large margin. Since they’re solo, they don’t have as many supplies, and they’re prone to hijacking Ranger squads if needed. That’s why we were so tense – we’re already a bit behind schedule, and we didn’t want to open our coffers or time to Bluebeard. Fortunately, he’s one of the good ones."

"Why’s his beard blue?" I was curious, but I didn’t want to be rude and ask. Maximus seemed to know though, so I was going to plunge him for all the information he had.

"Copper. He grew up near a copper mine, got in the habit of stroking his beard with copper-dusted hands, and well, now he’s Bluebeard."

Julius yelled at us to get moving – everything was packed up, and we were ready to keep going. I hopped up, and off we went! To Virinum! City of Clay!

Chapter 41

THE ROAD TO VIRINUM II

Several weeks passed. We camped in the wilderness. Visited small villages scattered throughout, solving problems. Sometimes the problems were of a critter type, some beast preying on cows that they couldn’t quite catch. Sometimes it was more an internal type, diffusing an argument before it could turn ugly, before it turned into a generational blood-feud. We met up with some other travelers, joining and leaving as time took us. Artemis continued to put me through my paces, and I could feel and see myself getting stronger, getting fitter. I always could run for hours, but now it was more on me and my body, and less me leaning on my skills. The Autumn equinox came and passed, the only real change we noticed was the weather getting a bit rainier. I loved warm climates.

We were a few days out from Virinum, camping out in a small forest. I handed my dishes to Kallisto – he was still on dish-duty – and flopped back, looking up at the stars.

They were gorgeous. No matter where I’d been on Earth, there was light pollution, making it hard to get a good look. Sure, there were pictures of the sky, but nothing – nothing – beat the visage of the full night’s sky, in all its unspoiled splendor.

One by one everyone else finished up their dishes, handing them off to Kallisto, who good-naturedly grumbled under his breath about it.

"Hey Elaine." Arthur started, pulling out a mushroom from his pouch. I bolted upright, mouth contorting into a wide grin. Lesson time! I leaned forward.

"What do you have there?" I asked, looking over the mushroom, absorbing every detail. It was teal, with pin-point salmon-colored spots scattered throughout.

"It’s a full-mushroom." He said, passing it to me. I gingerly held it in my hand. I felt a tingling sensation start in my fingers, where I was holding it, slowly spreading down through my palm.

"It tingles." I commented, twisting and turning to get a better look by the light of the fire.

"Yeah." Arthur said non-committedly.

"Why’s it called a full-mushroom?" I asked, curious. Name like that, had to have a story behind it.

"Because if you eat it, you’ll be full for the rest of your life!" He threw his head back and roared with laughter, at some mysterious joke I didn’t get.

What I did get was that this mushroom was powerfully magic. Never have to eat again? Never have to worry about food? I probably could still eat – nothing would make me give up mangos – but not needing to?

Perfect! Down the hatch!

I tilted my head back, throwing the mushroom gently up and into my mouth. Julius’s arm flashed over me, faster than a striking snake, knocking me back down from the slipstream. My head exploded with pain hitting the ground, and I could see stars.

"Idiot." Origen said. Yikes, a precious word from him as an insult?

I sat back up, rubbing my head. Arthur was laughing his ass off.

"Arthur! Not funny!" Julius yelled at him. "Elaine! You thick dumbass. This is one of the most poisonous mushrooms around! You’ll be full the rest of your life because you’d be fucking dead!" Julius yelled at me. My shoulders slumped, I looked down. Not a fun prank. Lesson very much learned – those were incredibly poisonous mushrooms.

Shaking off my near-death experience, and life-saving by Julius’s hands, I changed the topic.

"Who’s turn is it tonight?" I asked.

"Mine!" Arthur enthusiastically called. There were groans around the circle. I mentally groaned, but said nothing.

As we travelled, the other Rangers realized that the stories I’d told that night weren’t the end of my stash – they weren’t even the beginning! I could literally tell stories for a week straight, and have more, and [Recollection of a Distant World] had been helping me, drawing more knowledge out, making the stories crisper, fixing my singing when I sang a song, improving my recall.

It nearly came to blows when deciding what stories I’d tell around the campfire, and to forestall Julius "fixing" the problem by un-inviting me, I came up with a rotation system. Everyone got a night where they could ask for a favorite of theirs, for a song sung again, or for something new. It worked well enough.

Arthur though, he was obsessed with Achilles. Without fail, he’d ask for the Iliad, and I’d recited it so many times I could probably do it in my sleep.

"What would you like?" I asked, knowing the answer before I said anything. I asked anyways. Maybe this would be the night I was spared.

"The Iliad." He pronounced, not a single moment of thought. I shook my head at the predictability. I took a deep breath and started.

"Rage! Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage…."

I started belting out the Iliad. While everyone complained, it didn’t stop them from listening, drinking every word, more like a well-known beer than a fine wine.

Origen was working on re-upping the soundproofing enchantments on the wagon, and I was about a third of the way through when a lethal Artemis rock went whizzing by, inches from my face. My concentration broke at that, and I yelled at her.

"Hey! Watch it! That almost hit me!" I protested. I’d been more generous in the past, but dozens of fired projectiles with no results had me a little less understanding.

Homer’s spell broken; Julius glared at Artemis. He didn’t like things interrupted more than anyone else.

"You know the rule…" He started.

"Yeah, yeah. I shoot something, I check what it was. ‘Since I clearly thought it was something, it should be my responsibility.’" She recited, getting up.

"Right, where was I?" I checked. Skill helped with telling the story, not remembering my place in it. [Lost and Found], strangely enough, did help with me ‘losing my place’, and I was following that thread when an almighty lightning bolt went off in the bushes.

"Attack!" Everyone – including Origen – yelled out, as Artemis came sprinting back to camp.

"Goblins." She yelled out, getting back to camp.

I’d been dumping some points into Vitality, and with the increased perception, I was able to just barely follow what happened next, Xaoc, God of Chaos, enjoying the confusion.

Maximus, master of all weapons, grabbed a pot and jumped up, armed and ready. Artemis kept running to the wagon, slamming into the side and touching it. I saw veins of power light up, glowing and moving through the wagon as she breathed in, and stomped her foot down. At that, earthen walls started to rise all around us, except for one gap, large enough for two men to hold.

Maximus moved to that gap, and almost immediately was beset upon by goblins. First time seeing them here. They looked just how I imagined – small, ugly, slightly mishappened creatures with snarling jaws, bright red eyes, and a vicious streak. Julius showed up next to him, spear in hand, and the two started fighting the goblins.

"Artemis! One load!" Julius cried out. I had no idea what that meant, but it clearly meant something to Artemis, who contributed by throwing the occasional lethal pebble into the growing crowd of goblins trying to break into our make-shift fort.

"Elaine! On Maximus! Heals!" Artemis called out from her vantage.

I moved, while seeing what Kallisto and Origen were doing. They were throwing on armor as fast as possible. Arthur was nowhere to be found – how did he hide so damn fast, in an enclosed space!? The occasional goblin who fell, choking on their own spit, blood pouring from their eyes, with an arrow in them attested to Arthur’s contributions, but given that the arrows seemed to come from all around, it was hard to tell where he was.

I ran as fast as I could up to where Julius and Maximus were holding the line.

"Tunic off!" I yelled. I still needed direct contact to heal someone, and while that wasn’t normally a problem, there was no way I was getting skin contact on people moving that fast. My best bet was a hand on their back. Julius and Maximus complied, ripping their tunics off when they had a chance, and I darted forward, touching them quickly, hitting them with [Detailed Restoration]. It was terribly inefficient – I didn’t know exactly what I was healing, where I was healing, what the problem was, or any of that, so it sucked down hundreds of points of mana, when focusing and doing it properly would probably only do a few dozen.

[*ding!*-

I turned off notifications. No time for them, I’d see what I got later.

Julius was moving so fast I couldn’t process or follow what was happening, nor did I think I could reliably get a hand on him, so I focused on Maximus, who’d somehow lost the pot and was holding onto what only goblins could call weapons.

Well, goblins, and Maximus.

He took a nasty hit to his shin, dropping to one knee. I immediately fixed him up with [Detailed Restoration], knowing exactly what I needed to fix, then hit him with a [Deaden Pain]. He didn’t need to know about pain if I was able to immediately fix him up.

Up, down, left, right, Maximus was showing me what it meant to be a physical Ranger, near the peak of human existence. I’m sure Julius would show me something similar, if he wasn’t so damn fast there was only a blur.

As good as they were, they were only two, and a half-dozen goblins could fit in the passageway at once, crawling, standing, stabbing, foul blades heading towards us. Maximus took another bad injury, stumbling, my hand no longer touching him. I leaned forward to hit him with another heal, to bolster his reserves with a [Greater Invigoration]. A goblin took the chance, lunging towards me, rusty death heading for my eye.

I had faith. I kept going, leaning into it, being rewarded as a lethal whizzing went past my ear, his (her?) head blowing up in a spray of gore. I hit Maximus with [Greater Invigoration], healing his leg at the same time.

"DUCK!" Someone yelled. We hit the ground, and Artemis, with a voice I’d never heard, laced with power, announced her spell, the doom of goblins.

"[Chain Lightning]."

With that, a surge of lightning came from her, hitting the front ranks of the goblins, bouncing back and forth between them, arching back to hit goblins in the back, hiding goblins, goblins we couldn’t see. Goblins dropped, ears smoking, as Kallisto and Origen jumped over us still crouching, taking a stance together, shields locked, spears between them. A shield-wall of two, but given that the earthen walls were on either side, a shield-wall of two, heavily armored, was all that was needed.

Julius slowed down enough for me to get a look at him, dirt, sweat, and blood mixed all over, several shallow cuts bleeding. I stepped over, touched him with a [Detailed Restoration]. He nodded appreciatively, then stepped back, carefully scanning, looking for something. Artemis was standing on top of the wagon, having somehow climbed up there, looking utterly drained and exhausted. I wanted to give her a boost of [Greater Invigoration], but the adrenaline was leaving me, leaving me shaky.

"Look alive, Elaine. Artemis’s walls are good, but the sneaky buggers might try to break through one. Here. Take that wall over there, and watch it. Yell if you see something." Saying that, Julius started to jog over to the fighting, at a reasonable, non-superhuman pace.

I leaned against the wagon, shaking, watching the wall in question. The smell of lightning was thick in the air, the clashing of blades and snarls of goblins fading into the distance.

"Healy-bug." Artemis croaked out, sitting down on top of the wagon, legs dangling off to the side.

"Yeah?" I asked back, Artemis clearly wanting something.

"Catch me." She said, sliding off the wagon like a ragdoll.

Ack! I needed more warning than that! Artemis fell on me, tangled set of limbs falling together in one heap.

"Whyyyy." I moaned out, crushed under Artemis.

"Wanted. Down." Artemis breathed out.

I’d had enough of exhausted Artemis, and I hit her with a [Greater Invigoration], draining the last of my mana as I did so.

"Whoop! There it is! Exactly what I needed! Thanks healy-bug!" Artemis jumped up, full of energy. I was still mushed, feeling bruised and used, giving Artemis the stink-eye. She stretched, looked at me, and grinned.

"Hey, it’s not being paranoid if you’re right!"

From my lying position, I flipped her the bird.

After some time, almost everyone came trickling back.

"Where’s Arthur?" I asked, looking around, trying to suppress the panic rising inside of me.

"Hunting down the last of them." Kallisto answered, voice laced with exhaustion.

With that concern out of the way, I looked at him and Origen, encased in armor.

"Do you need any healing?" I asked, doubtful that anything could’ve made it through. Kallisto shook his head, but Julius overrode him.

"Everyone, get some healing from Elaine. We have a healer with us, we’re going to take full advantage of it. Elaine, I want the works. [Detailed Restoration], [Cure Toxin], [Kill Germs], and if you think you can spare it, [Parasite Removal]." He cocked his head, thinking. "And anything else you think we might need."

"[Attack Bacteria], [Parasitic Remover]" I muttered under my breath, everyone lining up, Arthur somehow showing up to be first in line. How did he do that!? He was supposed to be hunting goblins!

Arthur guessed Julius’s question. "Almost all dead, boss. One or two might have escaped, but they’re not a threat to even a lone farm."

I touched him, skills barely having any impact.

"And for you, dear Arthur," I began. "A heart. For courage!"

A stormy look came over Arthur’s face at that reference, while hoots and cheers came from everyone else.

Origen was next, and [Detailed Restoration], [Cure Toxin], and [Attack Bacteria] told me in no uncertain terms that he’d been hit, and goblins had nasty shit on their weapons. I glared at him.

"You were hit. You were hit more than once, and you just wanted to walk it off? No. I’m here to heal you. None of this tough-guy stuff, it’ll just get you killed one day. I lost my best friend that way. You will show up for healing after a fight." I continued lecturing him, not caring that he was heads and shoulders taller than me, able to break me in half like a twig, even though he wasn’t fighting-focused. Julius just raised an eyebrow at me, but let me say my thing. Good. I would’ve steamrolled over Julius in the same way.

Artemis came up next, lips twisted in an amused fashion. "Hang on." I said. "I’ll be right back." Saying that, I popped into the wagon, looking around. Where was it – ahha! I came back out carrying the item, getting raised eyebrows all around.

I touched Artemis, healing a minor bruise or two, before giving her the item.

"For you," I started. "A pillow. So you can land on something else when jumping off the wagon." I shot her a death glare as the Rangers gave her grief. Julius decided to join in on the fun.

"Artemis, sounds like you’ve been slacking on your physical training. Maybe we should do some practice jumps…"

The look on Artemis’s face went from promising murder, to thoughtful, to giving me a nod, acknowledging that the payback was fair.

Maximus came up, needing almost no healing. I’d been healing him the entire fight.

"For you, Maximus, a weapon." I said, handing him my knife. Julius interrupted.

"Elaine, no. Drop it. That’s a matter between me and him, it’s not your place."

Chastised, I healed up Kallisto without a word. Artemis’s mouth was twitching, and I just knew she wanted to join in on the verbal roasting.

Julius was last, making sure his whole team had gotten patched up first. He had a few nasty-looking cuts, and I gave him the full dose.

To my surprise, [Parasitic Remover] got a solid grasp, and my eyebrows went up. Remembering what he’d said, realizing we had the time for it, I threw up [Privacy] around us, gauzy barrier snapping around us.

"Elaine…" He started off dangerously. I held up a hand to forestall him.

"You’re the boss, I know. [Privacy] is up so I’m not undermining you, or showing you up in front of everyone. I need to talk with you."

The frown vanished, replaced with an intense look.

"Alright. Speak."

"My [Parasitic Remover] got solid purchase on you, I must have destroyed hundreds, thousands of parasites just now. You’re not the cleanest. You have some nasty habits. Now, I’m not here to berate you on those, but they do have consequences."

The frown was back, but it wasn’t the leader being displeased, so much as the patient unhappy to hear about lifestyle issues.

"How do you know it’s that?" He pouted.

"I don’t know for sure. I just know nobody else has the problem, and the two are likely linked."

His eyebrows furrowed as he processed.

"Should I expect any further problems?"

"Well, not from the current session. You might have an interesting day or two, but for the most part, if anything, you should feel tons better."

His look softened.

"Well, I appreciate you telling me this privately. A note for you – I appreciate you covering Maximus. Try not to place yourself in a position where others have to cover for you. Covering other people good. Making other people cover you? Not so good. It changed who we had to cover, and that’s..." Julius trailed off, but held his hand flat, rocking the sides up and down. I got the message.

I dropped [Privacy], and we rejoined the group. Artemis cocked her head at Julius, who just shook his head back.

Chapter 42

ARRIVAL IN VIRINUM

"Kallisto, Arthur, you're with me and Artemis on collecting bodies. Origen, Maximus, Elaine, you’re on wood-gathering duty." Julius ordered us, as we started to clean up the mess from the battle.

We grabbed some axes, and headed into the woods. As much as I gave the physical stats grief, and didn’t spend much time or energy on them, my 20 points in Strength let me swing an axe like I was a fit woman on Earth, never mind that I was a slightly athletic teenager currently. We were chopping and gathering wood, when my thought process caught up to what I was doing.

"Why are we chopping wood?" I asked. It was a mark of how well I was being trained that I just followed orders.

Maximus swung the axe with grace, while Origen was, well… like he was chopping wood.

"We need to burn the bodies. Black Crow has their soul, but their body will attract monsters otherwise. A few here and there – the poisoned ones that Arthur hunted down – will be fine, but we can’t leave a stack. Otherwise monsters show up, monsters might think there’s good eating here, and in a year, we have a monster extermination problem."

We hauled the wood back, building a pyre. Goblin bodies, so ferocious in life, looked like malnourished children in death. We stacked them, Artemis, Origen, and I respectfully, the rest just throwing their bodies on the heap. Crimson eyes promising murder just hours ago now gazed into nothingness, green skin marred with an angry spiderweb where lightning had coursed through them.

Artemis patted me on the shoulder, interrupting a stream of thought that was about to start going down the morality path. I realized I had tears streaming down my face.

"Just remember. They were sneaking up on us, trying to kill us. Nothing made them attack us. Nothing made them cram through that opening in our fort. Nothing we did pushed them, forced them to try and attack us. That was all on them." She gave me a big hug from behind, squeezing me hard.

"You’re alive, and unhurt. I’m alive, and unhurt. Thanks to you, we’re all alive and unhurt." While I didn’t quite have warm fuzzy feelings going through me, it staved off the darkness slowly starting to creep across my heart.

We stacked the weapons on top of their bodies.

Artemis passed me a torch. "Here. You’ll feel better being the one to send them to a peaceful place."

I wasn’t sure how right she was, but I took the torch anyways, lighting the pyre. I bowed my head as the flames licked up, reflecting in my eyes, washing the scene in a fiery red. The flames on the pyre matched the flames in my heart – in turmoil, swaying one way, then the next. I sent a wish, a prayer, that White Dove would take them somewhere nicer, a place where they didn’t feel the need to try and murder others. I hoped Black Crow didn’t need to take any of them, that they went gently.

The fact that they all died in battle suggested that Black Crow was laughing, enjoying the grand bounty. His messengers would probably feast tomorrow.

Was it their nature to kill? Or were there outside influences, reasons that pushed them to a point of desperation, that gave them a powerful need to try and murder travelers? Would they farm if they could? Or did they just find it easier to rob others?

I was a healer. I was supposed to bring people back from the brink of death, not push them over it.

But I didn’t push a single person, goblin, or otherwise near-intelligent creature off the edge. I did pull some people away from the brink, not that they had been all that close. And nothing about healing said I couldn’t defend myself.

Fuck, this was a lot to process, a lot to think about.

All questions for another day. Right now, me and mine were healthy and alive, and no goblins had been left alive to cause a problem.

"Good work everyone." Julius called us to attention as the flames were burning lower. "Question time. Do we stay here for the night, or do we move on?"

"Move on." Arthur immediately voted.

"Stay." Kallisto and Maximus said, practically in unison.

Artemis was doing some muttering to herself, before voting on "Move on." Origen just shrugged, not caring.

"Elaine. You’re the deciding vote." Julius told me.

Me? I had a vote? Why wouldn’t Julius decide? I thought about the issue, and rapidly realized something – I had no knowledge of the arguments for, or against, the merits of moving or staying.

"I’ve got nothing." I said. "I don’t know enough to have a good vote."

Artemis cracked a smile at me. Julius nodded, accepting my ‘vote’.

"Alright, we’re moving. Arthur – "

"Yeah, yeah, scouting. I’m always the scout. We need more than one." The bear-man complained, getting to his feet. Julius narrowed his eyes.

"Reins. I’ll be scouting. Artemis is in charge while I’m not around." Julius surprised all of us, and from the look on his face, he was slightly regretting his impulsive order, designed to one-up Arthur’s complaints, but signing himself up for a night of scouting anyways.

Undeterred, he pointed at one of the walls that Artemis had erected earlier.

"Artemis. Bring down that wall." He thought a moment. "Leave the rest up. Who knows, maybe someone will use it as the start of an outpost."

We packed up our gear, throwing it into the wagon, a mimicry of the first night where we’d fled from the mention of the D-word. I copied my original role, hopping in the wagon early, putting gear away as it was thrown in.

The D-word. That’s what I was calling Dragons in my head now, to stop another slip-up. I wasn’t sold on them being able to hear me say their name, but I was in a land of magic, where the impossible was every day. The others didn’t seem to know much about the D-word, but nothing- nothing – had shaken Julius like that, so we weren’t asking, and he wasn’t volunteering.

We got everything packed away, Arthur awkwardly climbing into the driver’s seat, wood creaking in protest as he settled down. Artemis muttered to herself, head cocking back and forth, before finally seeming to make up her mind. She put her hand against one of the wagon walls, streaks of power lighting the wagon’s interior up as she drew mana from it, crumbling a hole in one of the earthen walls big enough for the wagon to go through.

"Alright everyone, huddle up." Artemis called out. An indistinct noise came from the front. "Alright, fine, everyone near the entrance so Arthur can listen in as well."

I was curious, but Artemis was the boss right now, so we all went near the front of the wagon, making sure the door was open. We were all in a rough circle, with Arthur’s back being the only thing that showed through the door.

"What’s up?" Kallisto asked. Origen raised a single eyebrow, indicating his curiosity. Knowing him, there was probably a complete essay’s worth of questions depending on the exact angle of the eyebrow. I didn’t speak fluent Origen-ese, so I had no idea what it was being said.

"After-action summary. What went well, what didn’t, thoughts on the fight." Artemis started.

"We didn’t do one last time." Maximus pointed out.

"I wasn’t temporarily in charge last time." Artemis bit back.

I thought about sassing Artemis by saying "Temporarily.", but decided against it. It was hard enough suddenly being in charge, without everyone giving you grief over the first thing you tried to do. So instead, I decided to be helpful.

"My healing range being hands-on is a problem." I started. "I needed to be right up close and personal, I’m slow and you’re all fast, so Maximus needed to not only have no armor on, but be bare-chested so I could touch him to heal. I’m completely vulnerable, and anything remotely related to being in the action means someone needs to cover for me."

Maximus grunted assessment. "You were useful, you were helpful, don’t get me wrong. You also weren’t make-or-break in that scrap." I opened my mouth in protest, and he held a hand up, forestalling me. "You’re worth more than twice your weight in gold after the fight. In a fight, it was like my back was to a civilian who needed protection. It limited my movements, it forced me to fight defensively. You tried to cover for me at one point, but Julius already had me – it forced Artemis to intervene, and she’s our last-ditch move." He paused, and kept going.

"Now, I don’t want you to feel bad about any of that. You did what you were told to do, you’re braver than almost anyone I know. Heck, at your age, unarmed, no armor, there’s no way I’d have run towards goblins like that." He patted me on the head. I had mixed feelings on that.

"Kallisto?" Artemis continued.

"I was too slow getting my armor together. Origen finished suiting up at the same time as me, and he’s our utility. I’m focused in this; I should be faster than him." Nods of agreement came around the circle.

"Right. I think instead of sparring, you should practice getting your armor on and off. I know you did that during training, but it seems like you’ve been slacking." Artemis took a deep breath, preparing to give feedback on herself.

"For me. Generally I get shit for being on a hair trigger, tonight it paid off in spades. Saved Elaine, created the walls to stop it from being a disaster, [Chain Lightning] worked like a charm- all in all, I was the model of perfection. You should learn from your betters." Artemis tossed her head at that, short hair flowing in agreement.

We made some booing noises at that, with Arthur being a bit more vocal.

"Check your damn targets on that [Chain Lightning]! I was almost roasted!" He complained.

Artemis laughingly held her hands up. "Alright, alright, the real analysis. [Chain Lightning] was probably overkill, although it did end the fight. Arthur, you’re practically invisible, I won’t hold back on skills because you might be there. I drew more from our reserves than needed – or allowed – and I let myself get over-drawn and exhausted. If there’d been anything else, I wouldn’t have been able to help."

The discussion continued a bit, more pros and cons weighed, analysis of what went right, what went wrong, how we could do better in the future. I could practically see us growing closer, growing stronger. If someone had a teamwork skill, it’d be leveling up.

Wait, levels! Time to see my loot. I rubbed my hands in anticipation, mouth splitting into a toothy grin.

[*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Warrior] (Wood, lv 88)]

[*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Raider] (Fire, lv 92)]

Several dozen more goblins, in a dozen different classes.

[*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Skirmisher] (Light, lv 105)]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 106!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 104!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 105!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 106!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 80!].

….

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 98!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Greater Invigorate] has reached level 100!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 100!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 101!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 62!].

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 75!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Attack Bacteria] has reached level 70!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Parasitic Remover] has reached level 36!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Cure Toxin] has reached level 82!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Privacy] has reached level 68!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 98!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 101!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 89! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 90! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 124! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 127! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 124!]

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 127!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 89!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 90!]

I cackled in glee, seeing my levels go up, month’s worth of effort solved in a single evening. Thinking back on it, I immediately sobered up, a bucket of cold water poured over my happiness.

Creatures had died for my levels. Dozens of living, breathing, sapient creatures. What Artemis said came back to me. We hadn’t attacked them. We hadn’t made them attack us. It was self-defense, pure and simple. What was I supposed to do, strip naked and add salt and pepper to make myself tastier?

Argh. Nothing was simple. Give me people that needed – and wanted! – healing, and I was a happy girl.

What did make me light up a bit more was I was at 127 in my main class – a stone’s throw away from classing up again. It’d been years since I last leveled up my main class, and I was eager to see what was on the next floor of the library. Who knows, maybe it wouldn’t be rushed, and I’d have days to explore and read.

I’d kill for a library.

The joke felt like it was in bad taste at first, but I thought more on it. No, I’d actually kill for a library.

We fell back into our normal routine. Day after the fight, relaxing, recuperating, more analysis with Julius around. More running and sparring and pushups and burpees and other inventive torments from Artemis. Julius ordered Maximus to start re-fitting one of the former Ranger’s gear to fit me – he didn’t like me being on the front lines practically naked more than anyone else did. Maximus grumbled, but took my measurements and started re-shaping armor to fit me.

Artemis insisted that I get mage-armor, whatever difference that made.

We kept heading to Virinum as the rainy season came into full swing. Artemis had no mercy – I still had to keep doing all of the exercises she wanted, but now I was wet and muddy. Blessedly, I still had dibs on the wagon, and Artemis no longer slept in it, citing my nightmares keeping her up. The wagon recharged its lost mana, and before I knew it, one day we turned the corner to see the walls of Virinum.

A man sitting by the road stood up at seeing us, seemingly having performed the motion a thousand times. He came over and asked, in an exhausted, defeated voice.

"Are you the Ranger squad?"

"Yeah." Kallisto answered.

"Shame, we’ve been waiting for the Ranger – wait what!?" The man did a double-take at Kallisto’s answer.

"I said yeah, we’re the Ranger squad. What’s going on?" Kallisto asked, but it was too late, the man whooping and yelling and running down the road to the town.

"The Rangers are here! The Rangers are here!" He yelled, jumping and waving his arms at town.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck." Julius said, putting his head in his hands. "That’s never good."

Chapter 43

VIRINUM I

Julius clapped his hands, bringing our attention to him. "Listen up everyone. We’re walking into a problem, and it’s going to be a big one. Virinum hasn’t had a problem in months, if not years – their town guard is top-notch. Whatever this is, it’s going to be bad. I need to hear from everyone if you’re not top-shape, and what you need to be top-shape. Artemis, report."

Artemis snapped to attention, the normal playful look on her face evaporating like a snowflake in summer. "Sir! I’ve just finished recharging, and the wagon’s reserves are nearly full. I’m as close to top shape as possible."

Julius said. "Good. Kallisto. Maximus. Arthur. Origen. Elaine. In order. Report."

Kallisto yawned. "Top shape, no issues."

Maximus shot a look at Kallisto. "I’m low on mana, and Elaine’s gear isn’t quite finished."

Arthur stretched – the only direction he could go was sideways, the wagon wasn’t tall enough. "I’m missing a few exotic poisons, I could always use more arrows, and I’m down to a dozen buster arrows. All in all, close to peak."

Origen spoke up. "I’ve only inscribed part of Elaine’s armor. One day." Translation: Strangely enough, that was close to everything. He just needed one more day to finish up.

I added in my two coins to the discussion. "Sir! I’m not fully armored as has been mentioned. I’m also close to a class-up." At that last note, Origen rose his hand, indicating that he was also relatively close to a class-up as well. Ah, normal Origen, at last.

"Alright, thanks all. Everyone, gear up with what you have. Whatever this problem is, it’s not cold, but it’s not flaming hot. Either way, I don’t want to be caught flat-footed. Elaine, only gear up in armor sets that currently fit you. Ill-fitting armor is worse than no armor." I nodded at that, as we all tried to get dressed in the wagon.

The wagon was big – it could hold all of us, our gear, extra supplies, and in theory, another person. It was nowhere near big enough for seven people to be changing into armor at the same time, especially when one of those seven was the size of three people. Much cursing, swearing, and general complaining occurred as we tried to suit up. Julius would have pulled me aside if there was room. There wasn’t, so he chatted with me quickly, ducking as Artemis almost brained him with her greaves.

"Remember Elaine – you’re with us, but don’t claim you’re a Ranger." He reminded me. Yes dad. I rolled my eyes but nodded my agreement.

We were fortunate that the horses were insanely well-trained, and kept plodding on the road to Virinum while none of us were in control. We arrived at the gates, only for a well-dressed man, clearly insanely fit once in life, but gone slightly to seed, surrounded by a squad of guards hurried out to meet us.

"You’re the Ranger squad?" He asked, looking over us. His eyebrow quirked up as he saw Artemis, and nearly went flying off his face when he saw me.

"Yes. What seems to be the problem, governor?" Julius asked. Everyone had their serious game-face on, ready to leap into action at any moment.

"It’s terrible! Some sort of monster has taken up residence near the river grates. We’re unable to clear the grates of debris, and we’re not able to harvest any clay!"

Strangely enough, that broke the tension, relief in the air. I wasn’t quite following why, but Kallisto and Artemis both started stripping their armor off. Maximus gestured at me to come over, and I did. He started speaking softly to me, while Julius and the governor kept talking.

"Alright Elaine, we’re not going to be fighting today, or probably even for a few days. Why don’t you take your gear off, and we’ll work on finishing up your armor, k?"

I started to shuck what little armor I had off, hearing the tail end of the conversation.

"..poison. Either doesn’t eat it or doesn’t do anything. Usually lives in the water, so arrows aren’t doing much. Ate our best monster tamer. That was a real mess, dealing with the Tamer's now-untamed creatures. Smart enough to avoid harpoons from the scorpion - we can't get it close enough. Rams the gate if someone is on the other side trying to remove debris. It won’t be around for a day or two, someone gets cocky, and then it grabs them, drags them down to the bottom of the river." The governor was giving full account of the monster. I shuddered. I didn’t want to be anywhere close to that.

Artemis finished getting her gear off in record time, and shot off, like a child trying to dodge chores. My eyes widened in realization. The baths! She knew where they were, I didn’t, and it’d been weeks since I last had one. I finished throwing off what little armor I had, unceremoniously dumping it in the back of the wagon, and shot off after Artemis. I’d probably get grief for dumping my armor and chasing after Artemis, and get called Artemis’s pet again. I didn’t care.

Bureaucracy saved me. Artemis had gone the short distance to the gates, but the guard weren’t letting her in. I arrived mid-conversation.

"It’s insane! I’m going to need to fight whatever gods-knows-what monster you have! There’s no way I’m blowing my mana now!" Artemis’s tone was outraged, as she threw her hands up in the air.

The guards were sweating, but held their ground. "Ma’am, we’re very sorry, but no Classers as powerful as you are allowed in the city with that much mana. There’s no exception for ‘Ranger needing to slay a monster’. I’d love to let you in, really, but…" The guard trailed off, nervously swallowing.

"Morons! Shit for brains! Try thinking with your head, not your ass!" Artemis had a few more choice words, and while I was no great shakes with people, I could see their lips thinning, stances hardening. They didn’t like being challenged; they didn’t want to take risks.

But I knew guards. Dad was a guard, I’d grown up around them, I’d gone on patrol with them. This I could handle.

"Excuse me." I cut through Artemis’s tirade. To her credit, she actually shut up, perhaps realizing this was getting out of hand.

"First off, I’m Elaine. Hi, nice to meet you." I waved at them cheerfully. "My dad’s a guard in Aquiliea! I love being around guards. You guys do a great job!" I said the last part with as much cheer as I could, forcing a smile onto my face. Not my best effort, but they weren’t looking nearly as tense.

"I know you can’t let Artemis in, but could you get the Captain on-duty so we can ask him?" I asked sweetly.

"Elaine, this is dumb, we should just-" Artemis tried to come up with her own plan. I cut her off.

"Look, they’re not allowed to let you in. Full stop. The Captain’s the only one who can do that."

"And me." The governor loomed up behind us. I hadn’t even noticed him approaching. "Really guys? You’re going to give the Ranger team a hard time? Would you like to try and slay the monster yourselves instead, hmmm?"

The big boss showing up and throwing his weight around got us in the town faster than one of Arthur’s arrows. Speaking of arrows, she did her best impression of one as she sprinted through the town, weaving through the streets with practiced ease, as I scurried along, trying to stay on her heels.

Artemis, like a rat who knew where the cheese was in a maze, skidded to a halt in front of a large building that could only be the baths. Entry fees were paid in a rush, filthy clothes peeled from our bodies with a disgusting squelch, and then…

Bliss. Pure bliss. Steam swirled and danced around us as we sank into the baths. Hot water soaking into our sore muscles, our battered bones. The omnipresent slow current taking layers of grime away with them, revealing skin that hadn’t seen the light of day in weeks. I let myself fall under the water, running my fingers through my short hair, feeling it shake loose.

I broke free into the steamy air, a long, deep sigh of contentment escaping my lips. I just floated there, free and happy, letting my worries wash away. No chores. No exercise. No dirt. No rain, no mud, no orders, no horse smells, no dumps in the woods. Just pure bliss, delivered in a thousand tiny waves.

We must’ve been there for hours. It felt like minutes, seconds, snatched away too quickly. Artemis eventually started to haul herself out, while I stayed behind.

"Come on healy-bug. We gotta go back."

I made an inarticulate whining noise. Instead of arguing with me, Artemis grabbed a leg, and towed me out. It was fun, apart from the occasional dunking.

We dried off, and eyed the grubby rags formerly known as our clothes.

"How do you usually handle this?" I asked. This couldn’t be new, and thinking on it, I had no spare clothes.

"With aplomb." Artemis replied, wrapping the towel around herself, grabbing her money pouch, badge, and walking out. I stared after her, then realized I was about to be left behind.

"Wait!" I cried out. I mimicked Artemis, wrapping a towel around myself, grabbing my all-too-light pouch, and running after her.

This sucked. I felt so vulnerable being out like this. I imagined everyone staring at me, some hungrily, others laughing at me. I tried to copy Artemis, head held high, not a care in the world. It was hard.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 96!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 99!].

I caught up to her, and pressed up close behind her, hoping she’d be distraction enough. Twist, turn, twist, and we were in front of a shop, pictures of tunics burnt into wood in front of the store.

It looked closed, but that didn’t stop Artemis knocking on the door until someone showed up.

"What? We're closed." He asked grumpily, then properly took in our appearances. Artemis flashed her Ranger’s Eagle.

"You know what. I don’t want to know. Come in." The tailor decided that practically naked Rangers showing up after sunset wasn’t worth asking questions over.

Artemis got herself a half-dozen men’s tunics, so defined by the fact that they ended at the thigh, and didn’t have a long skirt attached to them. I copied her, emptying the rest of my money pouch for a single tunic.

I felt a hole in my heart as my last coin left my pouch. Not because I was broke – no, I felt despair because if we encountered mangos here, I wouldn’t be able to buy them. I needed to drum up some cash – preferably in time to go shopping here. Plans for another day.

We headed back to the guard’s barracks, and I was thanking my lucky stars I’d stuck with Artemis. I’d have no idea where any of this was, or where we were even staying, if I got separated. I should probably stick with the group until we had our ‘home base’ in a town next time we arrived at one.

We arrived at the barracks, and found a room that’d been assigned to us. A bed! A real bed! Sure, it wasn’t top of the line luxury, but when you’ve been sleeping on wooden floors with a woolen blanket, a real bed, a real mattress, and a real pillow were the height of luxury. Well, mattress and pillow were loose definition by Earth standards, but they met the Pallosian definition.

My head hit the pillow, and I was gone in seconds.

Chapter 44

VIRINUM II

I woke up the next day feeling fantastic, having gotten a full night’s sleep for once. I poked my head out of the room, only to find things busy and bustling. Right, barracks, not wilderness. I wandered around a bit, the layout both familiar and different from the ones in Aquiliea, until I found a room where everyone was eating. I sat down, grabbed some bread, and joined the conversation right as a joke finished, and rolling laughter accompanied the punchline.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Julius tried to get back on a serious note. "Alright, now that Elaine’s here, let’s go over the plan for the next few days. You all got a chance to relax yesterday. Today we’re going to take a look at the monster, and plan. Tomorrow we’re going to prep, and the day after, barring surprises, we’ll try to deal with the monster."

It sounded reasonable, but I was missing a ton. "Do we know what type of monster it is?" I asked.

"Semi-aquatic dinosaur. A Nothosaurus or something like that. Doesn’t tend to live in this area. Also," Julius grimaced. "according to the person who [Identify]’d it, almost red. Now, that could be an exaggeration, but it might not be. From the reports, fairly intelligent, in a monster sort of way."

"Sheep-bait?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, let’s use sheep-bait." Julius answered. This was almost going over my head. I’d been getting lessons, but more on survival, fighting, and fitness, and less-so on monster tactics.

"Sheep-bait?" I asked. Both questions, same words, but the subtle difference in intonation leading to a completely different meaning. Artemis to the rescue!

"Basically, we get a sheep or two out near where the monster’s supposed to be, and watch within our longest [Identify] range. When the monster shows up to chow down on a snack, we get to see what it is, how it hunts, what level it is, and more! Occasionally we’ll poison the sheep to see if we can easily dispatch the monster, but it rarely works. Usually the locals have already tried it."

I nodded, mouth stuffed with food. This made sense. I swallowed, asking another question.

"What other methods are there?"

"Elaine, please, let’s stay on-topic." Julius reprimanded me. I looked down, focusing on my food. Fine.

More discussion occurred, most of it going over my head, like the technicalities of what type of way to stake a sheep down for optimal results, – boring stuff - then we were in for a whirlwind of activity. Before I knew it, we were all gearing up into full weapons and armor, sacrificial lamb at the ready. The reason we were gearing up was just in case something went wrong, and the monster decided that today, of all days, was the day it’d haul itself out of the water, and start rampaging.

"Unlikely." Said Maximus. "But the one day you don’t prepare for it is the one day it’ll happen. We prepare for it, to make it not happen."

Superstitious, but whatever worked.

The sun was about a quarter of the way up when we were all ready. Everyone except Arthur were just a hair outside of the gates, gates being left open for us, with the guards having instructions not to let anyone out. Our path of retreat. Arthur was somewhere in the open field before the river, and how the hell was he hiding with no cover!? It was a trampled, muddy clearing, and Arthur was – so he claimed before vanishing – somewhere in there. A small mountain, completely hidden.

A small lamb was staked near the edge of the river, Julius having shown off his speed earlier to get it there. Now we watched. And waited. And watched. And….

I nudged Artemis. She turned, raising an eyebrow at me. I mimed playing cards. She swatted me for my efforts, pointed two fingers at her eyes, one finger at the river. Fineeeeee.

Standing still, doing nothing, was not a strong point of mine. I’d think that [Centered Mind] would help, but it wasn’t doing much – it was more for staving off fear, fright, decision paralysis, and other such incapacitating emotions – but not boredom. Or sleep deprivation. After all, I could still function 100%, I just couldn’t do anything.

Tick. Tock. There-are-no-clocks. Was that a shadow on the river, or the fearsome dinosaur about to emerge?

Shadow. It made me look up at the sky, seeing a few clouds lazily moving about. No problems from above today!

Oh shit, I jinxed it. I clutched my pendant, sending off a prayer to ward off the bad luck I’d summoned. Still nothing.

Maybe it would make things more interest- I cut that thought off. This was boring. Boring was good. I shifted from one foot to another. I amended my thought. Boring was better.

With the sound of a hundred crashing waves, the monster’s long neck broke through the surface of the water, grabbing the terrified lamb, and like a bear trap, its jaw snapped shut on the lamb, before retreating back underwater, as fast as it’d come up.

I took a moment to process and replay what I’d just seen. A long, sinuous neck, connected to a fat, seal-like body. I saw what looked like flippers on the front, the rest hidden beneath the waves. The neck was close to 6 feet/2 meters long, with dozens of sharp, curved teeth in its elongated jaw, each the size of my fingers.

Arthur popped back up, face grim. "Bad news boss. They were mostly right. It’s a Nothosaurus, and while it’s not blazingly red, it’s higher level than Artemis by a chunk."

Frowns all around. "Alright, let’s get to the wagon and plan." Julius took the lead, and we jogged down to where the wagon was parked in a neat row. I could feel my chest swelling with every step. I felt like I belonged. I felt like we looked good, and I was helping with that. A silly grin split my face as I kept in time with everyone else, hidden to all.

We filed into the wagon, Arthur squeezing in, and closed the doors. Origen did some inscription-related magic, and I felt the air pop, like it did every night when I slept in here.

"Sound proofed?" Maximus asked. Origen gave him a withering look that said "of course it is, I know how to do it and you get a good night’s sleep every night."

"For Elaine’s sake, we’re going to be a bit more thorough in our discussion. Who knows, her experience combined with all of our tactics might have us come up with something else. First off – Placate, Kill, Drive off, or Tolerate?"

"Fucking no on Tolerate. It’s killing people, it’s threatening to break in the gate, and nobody can harvest clay." Arthur quickly jumped in.

"It’s a dumb monster that’s found a nice tasty spot full of food. Placating it is unlikely to go well – it’ll just be back for more." Maximus added.

"Driving it off is probably harder than just killing it." Artemis added, casually twirling a knife between her fingers.

"Fine. All in favor of going for a kill?" Julius asked, raising his hand. Everyone but me raised their hands. "Elaine. Problem?"

"I’m not going to stop you, or interfere, or not help, but… I don’t think I’ll ever vote for kill. Maybe that’ll change one day – it is just a monster – but for now…." My voice trailed off as I shrugged my shoulders, looking down at my feet.

"No problem. Got it. Maximus. What do you know about these, what strengths do they have, what weaknesses?" All eyes turned to Maximus, who straightened up.

"Not much. My best guess would be a fairly standard aquatic monster. Likes water, has physical and water-related skills, likely Water element, in rare cases a Coral element. At home in water, bad on land. Unlikely to have a ranged skill, even if it has something surprising – if nothing else, the town probably would’ve seen it by now. To summarize: Strengths: close-quarters combat in water. Weaknesses: Range. Mitigates its weaknesses by using the river."

We spent a few moments mulling that over. How did you fight a creature perfectly at home under water, who only popped out in ambush attacks?

"Perhaps I’m stating the obvious…" I started off, gulping around a lump in my throat. "But I suspect under-water combat with this monster can be ruled out?"

I looked around the table, getting some heads shaking. Kallisto snorted disdainfully.

"Kallisto, knock it off. Elaine’s not wrong to state the obvious. No, we can’t fight it under water. We’re terribly equipped for it, and it has the advantage even before putting it in its home." Julius helped protect my ego.

"So, we need to get it out of the water." I stated. More thinking.

"Or we removed the water from it." Artemis chimed in after a few moments. "Divert the river, like that Hercules fellow. Re-divert it after."

"There’s no way we could divert the whole river. The thing’s massive!" Kallisto was being a real party-pooper. I jumped in, more to defend Artemis than prove Kallisto wrong.

"We have a whole town full of people who are pissed that a monster’s eating them, and their livelihood. Put a shovel into each of their hands, river would be moved in a week."

Julius slapped the table, bringing the attention back to him. "Diverting the river, as interesting as it’d be, has other problems. Let’s re-examine that if we don’t come up with anything else. More ideas?"

"Poison." Grunted Arthur. Origen rolled his eyes at that. Artemis held up three fingers. Two fingers. What was this countdown for? One finger. Closed it.

In a great chorus, Artemis, Julius, Kallisto, and Maximus:

"You always suggest poison!"

Origen contributed by nodding along.

Right, I knew that. I could have joined in. Wasn’t too late.

"Always!"

Julius took a deep breath to reset the mood. "Arthur, you’re free to have first crack at it with poison. Barring that, we need ideas on how to make it leave the river."

"Sheep!" I jumped in, eager to participate. Easy answer really.

"Elaine, you saw how careful it was with just one lamb practically hand-fed to it. How easy do you think it’ll be to lure it out even further?"

We battered ideas back and forth, testing them out in the confines of our mind, trying to see how we could get on even footing. Ideas proposed, rejected, modified, rejected again. Some ideas took too long, others required resources we didn’t have, not even with the town backing us. One particular idea – poisoning the entire river to a large, lethal degree – would have worked, but killed the entire town as well. Arthur’s idea, to nobody’s surprise.

However, it was off of that idea I got inspiration. Taking a bite out of my dinner – this planning session had taken hours, on top of how long baiting out the monster had been, I asked.

"Instead of poison, why don’t we use ash, or something similar?"

"Ash doesn’t kill." Arthur pointed out, pouting. If Artemis told me "kills the entire town as a side-effect." was a plus in Arthur’s book, I’d believe her.

"No, no, listen. Ash is cheap, easy, there’s a ton of it. Literal tons. We dump it into the river, it makes it cloudy, foggy. Deeply unpleasant. Monster might decide it doesn’t want to be in the river anymore. With a bit of luck, it’ll leave the river, instead of trying to swim into more ash, or whatever other unpleasant thing we dump in. Sure, it’ll kill laundry for a week, but it won’t kill people for a week."

We thought over the idea.

"How do we know it’ll come out on the right side of the river?" Kallisto pointed out.

Julius had a solution. "We could stay near the town, and we run over to whatever side it comes out on. We won’t be waiting for it, sure, but we’ll be able to react." He tipped his cup back, draining whatever was it in, thumping it down on the table in a final way.

"Any other thoughts?" A moment of silence. "Alright, you’re all free for the evening. Don’t get in trouble. Kallisto, that means you." Golden-haired boy looked peeved at that.

I wanted to go out and about, see the town, get into mischief, see if there were mangos for sale. There was a fatal flaw in my plans.

I had no money. I was flat-broke. I spent the night inside, getting a terrible night’s sleep.

Chapter 45

VIRINUM III

I got woken up by a herd of angry bears invading the wagon. I yawned, stretched, gave myself a shot of [Greater Invigorate]. Sleep gone, I fully opened my eyes and confirmed that yes, it was Arthur, and no, I wasn’t about to be mauled to death by an angry bear. After all I’d survived, that’d honestly be an embarrassing way to go. Give me an epic out if I’m going to go down.

Everyone else filed in, and I made myself, and my sleeping supplies, compact and out of the way – mostly by sitting on all of them. See, a chair! Not me being lazy. Artemis saw my mad dash and subsequent look, and rolled her eyes at me. I stuck out my tongue, and Julius brought us all to order.

"Right, we have a solid plan on how we’re going to lure this thing out. Now let’s plan the actual fight out. Artemis, are you able to pen it in?" Artemis shook her head.

"It’s all clay and mud around the river. There’s not enough stone to make a cage, and I can’t conjure up that much material, even with unrestricted access to the wagon’s reserves. I could make a clay cage, but Origen could bust through, forget this beasty. Only person it could trap is Elaine." I pouted at her around a loaf of bread, but couldn’t really argue.

"Instead, I propose we…." Artemis started to detail her plan, as we all leaned forward. After much back-and-forth, checking skills and capabilities, hammering and refining the plan in our fires of invention, we had a solid, working plan.

"Alright everyone. Today’s our prep day. What do we all need? Artemis, you first."

"Town of Clay. Hoping to pick up some ceramic projectiles, they’re better than a straight rock, especially if you can convince someone to make it sharp." Artemis said.

My eyes widened in surprise. That was clever! I’d have never thought of that, but then again, I wasn’t the Earth-mage. It was like having an arrowhead vs a slung rock.

"Arthur?" Julius was going around the circle.

"More buster arrows. This sucker’s big, and I doubt normal arrows are getting through its hide."

"Right. Maximus, Origen, unless you two have something more pressing, finishing Elaine’s armor is top priority." The two shook their heads in denial of having anything better to do.

"Kallisto?" Julius continued asking around the circle.

"Well, there are a great number of very lovely ladies who –" Julius cut him off.

"Right, you’re with Arthur."

That was the whole "Travel in pairs unless you have an emergency signal" bit coming into play again.

"Lastly, Elaine." I perked up at my name. "You’re with me." My face fell, shoulders slumped. "Meet back here before nightfall to get everything sorted. Dismissed."

Glumly I got up, following Julius out the door. I’d wanted to spend the day with Artemis, instead I got grouchy.

"So, what are we up to?" I asked, no longer able to hide my curiosity as we travelled down the white zone.

"Potions. You know exactly what you can and can’t do, and I need you around while we’re buying potions, so you can tell me if you can substitute for one or not."

We kept going down what could only be Virinum’s main street. It looked a lot like Aquiliea in so many ways, including the scent of the sea, but where we had colorful riots of colored clothes, they were more muted here. Instead, thousands of tiny, fancy painted frescos were commonplace, on almost every wall and on every building, carved out of the clay the town was so famous for.

We stopped by a store with a giant fresco, showing a man stirring a bubbling cauldron over a controlled fire, with dozens of colorful seashells showing different liquids inside. An apothecary.

We entered to see a bored-looking young man, skinny, with the physique of someone whose idea of heavy-lifting was two potions at once, behind the counter. Dozens of colorful seashells segregated by color, size, and type, with little pictures denoting what each potion had, were on display behind him. A muscle for a potion to briefly increase strength, a foot for speed. The riot of color that was missing outside was in this apothecary.

I wonder what towns that weren’t on the seashore used?

"Can I help you?" It must be an apprentice potion-maker, the master wouldn’t sound so dull and bored in his own store.

"We’d like –" Julius started, only for bored-dude to interrupt.

"Wait, don’t tell me. Either a fertility potion, or an impotence potion. Right?" He said, not bothering to get a response. The fires of anger deep in my chest warred with embarrassment. Me, with Julius? Ewwwwwww.

Julius’s eyes tightened, and his lips pursed. His hands dipped to his belt, and for a moment I thought he was going for his knife – a bit of an extreme overreaction, but hey, I’d help him hide the body.

Sadly? He grabbed his Ranger badge, and slapped it down on the counter. With a cold, clipped voice that I’d only heard when he caught Artemis nearly braining Arthur, he said.

"Rangers. She’s my teammate. Apologize."

All the blood seemed to have left bored-dude’s face, as he jerked from the badge to Julius’s face, and back again.

"I won’t say it again. Apologize."

"S-s-s-sorry."

Julius snorted, not happy, but realizing pushing it further would lead to no good. The store tender looked at me, and I gave him my best withering glare. He jumped, warming my heart. Good. He knew where he was in the pecking order.

"Alright, I’d like 7 of each Strength, Speed, Dexterity, and Vitality potions. Elaine, you can handle most poisons, right?"

"Yeah. Not that I think this beast has poison." Julius nodded at that.

"Agreed. Better safe than sorry, but in this case, I think we’re safe. Now, for thoroughness, general healing?"

"Probably weaker than my healing aura."

"And that’s permanently on, right?"

"Right."

"Alright, skipping that one…"

We examined and rejected dozens of different types of potions, all of which I either replaced, or we didn’t have a visible, practical use for. In the end we got a set of stamina potions, which overlapped with my [Greater Invigorate] – "because in a pinch, you need to save your mana, it’s too useful not to have extras of, and you can’t reach everyone at once.", almost 30 blood restoration potions. "The more specific the potion, the stronger. We need to shore up your weakness, and these can last awhile.", and a few other miscellaneous potions.

Buying the potions was easy. The idiot behind the counter gave us a price, Julius Looked at him until he was trembling, and the price went down. The intensity of his gaze went down slightly, the price went down, and the process rinsed and repeated until we had nearly half-off the price. Good negotiations!

I wonder if Julius had some [Bartering] skill variant. Julius gave me a heavy pouch full of coins to hold, then he vanished. Not a minute later he was back with a flurry of wind and a second pouch, and we completed the transaction.

Why was I even along for this trip?

All in all, it was nearly 70 potions we were hauling out of there, and I discovered a more nefarious reasons Julius had brought me along.

As a mule.

Loaded up with most of the potions carefully packed in small bags, I felt like a walking cargo tunic.

No, walking cargo tunic was all wrong. Waddling cargo tunic. There we go.

"Are you sure I should be carrying these? They were expensive! We need them!" I did my best to worm out of work, and to not feel so damn stressed about carrying the absurd amount of very expensive potions. In delicate seashells.

"Yup! Elaine, I trust you. You won’t break a thing."

I sweated and cursed under my breath. I just know he could’ve taken them all himself.

"If you could not mention the thing with the discount, I’d appreciate it." Julius mentioned off-handedly, as we turned another corner.

"Ooooh?" I said, with barely disguised glee. Blackmail material!

I got a Look. I really, really, should never, ever play poker.

"While we could commandeer things we need – especially when dealing with an immediate threat to the town – it leaves a bad, bad taste in people’s mouths. That directly translates into more problems for Rangers down the line. So, I strongly discourage everyone from doing it. If they knew I did something similar, even if it was just to teach him a lesson, it’d erode that order. I don’t need my orders eroded."

Fine, fine. I was still tagging along by their good graces, and Julius was the boss.

"Do you think he’ll get in trouble for selling the potions so cheaply?" I asked, curious.

Julius shrugged.

"Probably. That was more on him for having no spine. Remember," He said, getting a sly grin. "did I actually say anything?"

I half-laughed as I thought back on the interaction. Julius didn’t say anything – he just looked displeased.

We arrived back, and carefully, carefully, put the potions away.

I was putting the last potion away when Maximus popped back in, holding a complete set of armor.

"Elaine! You’re here! Great, come with me, I need to see that your armor fits properly."

Maximus had carefully measured me when we were first starting on this project, but apparently it might need some fine-tuning.

We left the wagon, entered the barracks, and found a spare room. Maximus showed me how to put the armor on. The laminar vest went on first, barely covering my shoulders. The thick skirt made of leather strips went on second, over the bottom of the vest. No metal strips on mine - deliberately a hair lighter for easier movement. A thick belt went on over that, where pouches, knives, and the like would live. My sandals stayed, but greaves went over my shin, while vambraces covered my upper arms.

Heavy leather gloves were a normal part of the outfit, but I still needed direct contact to heal someone, and awkwardly trying to find a patch of my bare skin to connect was so much harder than just touching them. So instead, I got fingerless gloves.

"Afterall," Maximus reasoned, "If you lose your fingers, you could just regrow one, then heal with that." His cold logic made me shudder.

Lastly came the helmet. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, and I needed to cut my hair again to make it fit properly. Maximus then circled around me, muttering incomprehensible things, poking and prodding the armor. I could feel it subtly shift each time, adjusting tiny amounts to perfectly mold to me, to not be Ranger’s armor, but becoming something more.

Elaine’s armor. My armor. Fit for me, tailored like a second skin.

Maximus was wanting me to jump up and down in it, and I hesitated, feeling strangely vulnerable. Artemis popped her head in, saving me.

"Elaine, are you all set?" Artemis asked. Maximus opened his mouth, probably to say check #81 wasn’t quite done yet or some other esoteric bit of armor-fitting, but it was good enough for me.

"Yup!" I cheerfully walked out, unused to all the extra weight, glad I didn’t need to be jumping.

"Great! You’re all mine for the afternoon!" Artemis’s tone of glee deeply concerned me….

I was right to be concerned. I’d just gotten used to Artemis’s fitness regime. Now I had to do all of that – in full armor. I sweated. I slipped and fell in the mud. I cursed and groaned and was generally put through my paces in a brutal fashion.

Slightly more fun was learning how to activate the myriad inscriptions in the armor, causing it to show with an otherworldly blue light.

"Mostly Speed and Dexterity buffs for my healy-bug. Vitality is a pain to buff, and Strength doesn’t do much for you. The magic stats are historically difficult to buff, and it’s basically never done. There’s a bunch of passive inscriptions to help with durability, which also directly translate to keeping you alive." I practiced turning my buffs on and off, seeing my mana regeneration lower and go back up as I did. Neat.

"Also, to note, you have mage-armor there. It’s lighter and easier to move in than the normal, base gear – of which only Origen and Maximus wear – but the real secret is the Arcanite stones woven into it. Easy access to additional mana in a fight, hard to separate you from it. Unlike, say, someone grabbing your own knife." I got a pointed look at that last comment.

"Armor’s on loan to you while you’re hanging out with us. If you leave, the armor’s gotta stay." Perfectly reasonable. I had no plans on leaving – I was more terrified they’d kick me out.

We tuned the Arcanite to me – it wasn’t needed, but it helped – and it was back to fitness training we went.

I was spitting mud out of my mouth after having fallen for the dozenth time, close to breaking, when Artemis had some mercy on me.

"I know this is no fun healy-bug," The twinkle in her eye made me doubt that. "But this is for your own good. You’re going to be running, in these conditions tomorrow, and you might save one of our lives as a result. Heck, it might even be mine! And we only have this one afternoon to get you in shape." Artemis’s look turned gentle, the corners of her eyes going down. "You might be in the thick of things. You might die. I can’t let that happen, so I’m doing what I can to prevent it."

I got up, caking myself in another layer of mud, and gave Artemis a huge, crushing hug.

"Ack! You’re getting mud all over me!" Artemis complained, with no venom in her voice.

"I know," I said, muffled through her tunic, talking into her. "Now you gotta pay for a bath for me tonight."

Artemis swatted at me for that, and I continued going through my paces with her, renewed vigor. Her little speech had driven just how serious this was, that while we were laughing and sliding in mud, this had real, practical applications.

A real, practical application, tomorrow.

Where failure on my part would mean someone died.

Training stopped being fun and games.

Artemis treated me to an hour or so in the baths as the sun went down, to help me relax and get clean before tomorrow. It didn’t matter, but it was nice, and that did matter.

We got back to the barracks, where I spent nearly an hour scrubbing and cleaning my armor, getting the mud out from all of the nooks and crannies it had found. I see why the Rangers weren’t constantly wearing their armor all the time, the maintenance was hell.

When I found where I was going to sleep for the night. Julius popped in, seashell potion in hand.

"Elaine." He started. My heart rate started to slowly increase. I didn’t like the sound of this. "I know you sleep terribly, and since we’re going into a big fight tomorrow, I’d like to give you the option of a sleeping potion. Careful!" He raised the potion up, out of my grasp as I was reaching for it. "They can be addictive."

I nodded eagerly, taking the potion from Julius. I waited a moment for him to leave, before removing the beeswax and cork plug, and downing the potion.

Sleep claimed me, and I never slept better.

Chapter 46

VIRINUM IV

I’d never had such a good night’s sleep, and when someone was shaking my shoulder, I sleepily brushed them off.

"Give me some more time…" I sleepily muttered into my pillow. I wish I could ask for a few more minutes, but timekeeping. I needed to invent timekeeping. After sleep.

The incessant hand on my shoulder left, and I let myself drift back off to sleep, only to be rudely picked up and dumped on the floor.

I cracked open my eyes, to see Artemis, who had her hands on her hips, looking peeved.

"Get up already! You’ve slept in for ages! The sun’s high up!"

Fuck. I was delaying everyone. The cold rush of panic from possibly disappointing everyone else woke me up better than a [Greater Invigorate] could.

I started to rush to get my armor on, when Artemis gently grabbed my arm.

"Do it right. It’s better that we’re a moment late, with our gear on properly, than it failing in a fight."

I took a deep, calming breath. Ok. I can do this.

Slowly, carefully, trying not to tremble at the thought of what was to come, I got everything on. Armor on, belt on. Almost half of the blood restoration potions were with me, with the remainder locked away in a chest. "Because the only time we’ll need them is if you’re nearby." Artemis explained, helping me get them on, showing me how to quickly release them.

That was morbid. Why didn’t we buy regular healing potions as well?

Right, because they were practically useless.

Heart pounding, I made my way to the wagon, where plans were being finalized, weapons checked, runes flaring with power as they were turned on and off, being tested.

"Ok, any last-minute questions, adjustments, anything?" Julius wrapped up. We all shook our heads. We knew the plan; we knew what needed to be done.

"Potion time." That got a grimace from everyone, with Origen pretending to gag. I eyed my potions suspiciously. I wonder if [Deaden Pain] would help?

My regeneration was crazy, but I wasn’t going to risk a single point of mana right now. Down the hatch they go.

They each had their own unique blend of terrible. Rotten eggs would be a luxury meal after that. Raw coffee beans a delightful treat. Hákarl the pinnacle of food.

Gagging, desperately drinking water and making retching noises, I wasn’t the only one. Julius had the only stoic look, but from how the lines around his eyes were tightening, I suspected it was more to look good in front of his team than any enjoyment of the foul concoction.

"Alright. I’ll signal the guards to begin." With that, Julius vanished, a swirling of leaves the only indication he’d been there a moment ago.

Part one of the plan: Ash was a good idea. The town’s main industry was clay-related, and to fire clay, you needed ovens. Lots of ovens. To fuel the ovens, you needed wood, and at the end of the day, there was a ton of ash left over. Normally this was recycled back out as fertilizer, but we stepped in. We requested the guard’s help collecting the ash, moving it upriver, and having them dump the huge quantity into the river.

In spite of how slow everything had been, due to the lack of clay, there was still enormous quantities of ash. Some clay still got fired, ovens still cooked food, and when word got out that we wanted ash to deal with the monster, it was suddenly easy.

Julius made it back after about 15 minutes. "It’s done. That guard up there," He pointed to a guard on the wall. "Will signal us if the monster leaves the water, and what direction it left in."

We were hoping it’d leave on what I arbitrarily called the right side. That side of the river had the road, and we’d be able to get to it much faster. If it left from the left side, we’d need to leave from the eastern gate, the loop around back south, through brush, to get to where it left. Not impossible, but not easy.

We spent what felt like hours, waiting tensely. Artemis paced. Origen was stoic. I kept bouncing my knee, getting the occasional glare from Kallisto and Julius over it. The fact that the river beneath us – we were waiting on a bridge, roughly halfway between the two gates – only just turned grey with ash, implied that my sense of time was horribly off. I looked up at the sun. Yeah, my sense of time was horribly off. We’d been here maybe 20 minutes, not hours.

I have no idea how long it was before the guard on the wall started frantically yelling and waving his arms, pointing to the direction I’d arbitrarily declared "Right". With that, we were off like a shot!

Origen was driving the wagon, with me up front with him. Artemis was hanging off the back, to better do her thing.

Maximus, Julius, Kallisto, and Arthur were all on foot – they were significantly faster than the wagon was when they pushed themselves – and they moved together as a team down the roads emptied by the guards. Soon they were out of sight.

We picked up speed after we turned a tight corner, ending up on the main road south, path cleared by shouting guards. There was some cheering – the mighty Rangers off to slay the monster got good press – but I was too nervous to appreciate it, eyes fixated on the gate rapidly looming up, my heart pounding in beat with the horse’s rapid hooves.

Too fast, we were through the gate, and I could see what was going on; get a good look at the monster that’d been causing so many problems. A vicious monster that looked like a small plesiosaurus met my eye. The head and neck were the same, the body both fat and sleek, like a seal’s, with a tail almost as long as its neck was. Kallisto and Maximus were baiting the creature towards them, away from the river. Arthur was nowhere to be seen, and Julius was on a type of overwatch, slinking around. He was waiting until we’d done our part before jumping in.

We made a turn towards the river, and a second turn to run next to the river, mud flying from the horses’ hooves. Thank goodness for dashboards.

It was now Artemis’s turn to shine. While most of the ground was mud and clay, there were some rocks in the ground, and in the river. As we slowed down to a trot, Artemis was raising crossed spears at an angle, closing off the monster’s path of retreat back into the water. The monster could bust through if it wanted to, but it’d mean impaling itself on a half-dozen nasty, barbed spikes. The hope was it’d pick another direction to flee in, one that didn’t involve submerging itself in water.

As she raised what sounded like the 5th or 6th spike – I couldn’t see – Kallisto and Maximus moved in to engage the monster. I should [Identify] the monster. [Nothosaurus]. Fuck that was the highest-level creature I’d ever seen. Kallisto was using his standard spear and shield, while Maximus was using some strange double-headed spear, whirling it around like a quarterstaff.

The monster snapped and bit, as Kallisto performed amazing feats of athleticism to dodge most of the blows. Occasionally, the monster’s head would snap forward so fast that he’d take the blow on his shield, using the momentum to roll back instead of just falling. Maximus would move in, get a blow or two in, and as the monster turned to attack Maximus, Kallisto would get a stab or two in, drawing the monster back to him.

Maximus could dodge, but he had no shield. A direct hit would be a terrible problem.

None of the wounds looked particularly bad or deep, and the occasional buster arrow from Arthur wouldn’t even fully penetrate, falling out after a moment or two. They had to be poisoned, and I hoped he was using something strong enough to have an impact.

Note to self: Ground is littered with sharp, super poisonous arrows. Caution required.

Julius finally saw an opening, and moved like the wind. He wasn’t using a shield either, instead holding onto a pair of short blades, slightly curved at the end. He moved in, and the distance, along with the potions boosting my Vitality, let me just barely let me see him run past the Nothosaurus, blades against flesh. He ended the run next to the wagon.

"Elaine!" He called out.

"Sir!" I answered.

"Out of the doorway!" He yelled. I jumped up, moving out of the way of the wagon’s front entrance. Julius jumped on, blitzed into the wagon and back out, holding a single, larger serrated blade. Without explaining why, he jumped back down, and immediately went for another blow.

That one worked a bit better, leaving a thin red trail on the monster’s side, head snapping to the side, trying to catch Julius. The monster’s snapping jaw was faster than Julius, causing me to bite my nails, but he bent backwards, dodging the blow as he moved out of the way, managing to get away cleanly.

I started sweating at that. Maximus was at least well-armored. Julius – Julius was incredibly fragile.

We swung the wagon back up, onto a small hill, while we watched the fight continue. Artemis popped up, holding a bag full of sharp ceramic pieces, some like little balls with sharp edges everywhere, others clearly remnants of broken pottery repurposed into projectiles.

She took a careful shot, checking her range, then a flurry of shots started to come from her. These were doing damage, and the beast roared in agony as the first barrage hit its side, cutting deep bloody grooves into its thick hide and blubber.

Maximus was the current focus on the Nothosaurus, so Kallisto was moving in for a stab on the opposite side from Artemis’s lethal barrage. However, as it roared in pain, it suddenly moved faster, tail whipping at such a speed that it cracked, hitting Kallisto solidly on the side, sending him flying.

I screamed seeing it, and was immediately shut up by Origen, who hit me, and pointed at Kallisto’s broken body, unmoving on the ground.

[Centered Mind] kicked in, reminding me what I was here for. I took off, [Running] giving wind to my legs, moving faster than I ever had under the influence of both the potions, and the glowing runes carved into my armor. I looked down at the ground, legs burning, arms pumping, keeping an eye out for discarded arrows, nearly rolling my ankle as I stepped awkwardly to skip over one. My direction and speed weren’t terribly well thought-out, as a few more of Artemis’s broken pots given one last chance at glory went whizzing past me, causing spurts of gore as they dug into the monster’s side. It roared in pain again, turning in the direction of the missiles.

Only to lock onto me, a small pest running roughly towards it. [Vigilant] screamed bloody murder – no shit - I felt my courage nearly break, but I continued. No skill buttressed me, [Centered Mind] wasn’t needed. I’d thought about this. I prepared for this. I looked death in the eye, with its snapping jaws and massive teeth, and kept going. Kallisto needed me. I’d defend him at all costs, bring him back. I needed to hear his crude jokes, I needed to see his heroically good looks. I needed him to find his way into the wrong beds, and be assigned all of the cleaning. I hated cleaning.

He’d be fine. He had to be fine. I kept my head down, running with all my might, one leg in front of the other. I wasn’t heading directly to the monster – I was still going to where Kallisto lay unmoving.

As the monster started towards me, Julius showed up on the far side, edge of his blade glowing green. A mighty slash from heaven to earth came from him, and the side of the monster split like never before. A heartbeat behind him, and Maximus planted his spear through the monster’s rear flipper, into the ground.

The monster roared, a sound so loud it caused me to stumble, hands over my ears, nearly falling on the slick mixture of mud and blood. Yesterday’s practice saved me, and I turned my near-fall into a slide, ending up near Kallisto.

A loud thudding noise was getting nearer, the monster moving at full speed, but I didn’t look. I had faith. Instead, I evaluated Kallisto.

Fuck the evaluation. I put my hand on the back of his neck, one of the only pieces of exposed flesh I could find. [Detailed Restoration] on his head, focusing on his brain, his spine, the important parts. A second [Detailed Restoration] on his heart, his lungs, keeping the pathway between the two open. I glanced at my mana. 1693/2450. I relaxed. That wasn’t nearly close to my full output.

I rolled him over, seeing him gasping for breath. Still hurt, but alive, and I had some time to evaluate. The thumping got louder, and I turned my head to check. The monster was heading right for us, running away from Maximus and Julius. It’d run over us all the same.

I heaved, trying to get Kallisto up, falling. The mixture of blood and mud was much more liquid here, there wasn’t a way to get a good purchase, and there was a suction force, keeping him stuck. I grabbed, heaving, trying to get him up and moving. We were seconds away from finding out if my healing was stronger than getting run over by a several ton rampaging monster. The ground was muddy, I liked my odds. Just needed to hold my breath.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to find out, as Artemis sent a bolt of lightning to its head. It didn’t seem to do much, but it made an annoyed noise, turning slightly away, a burn mark near its eye. I guess that’s why Artemis was using rocks, and not lightning. The beast trampled past us, so close I could’ve reached out and touched its fin.

Immediate crisis averted, I focused back on Kallisto, pumping [Detailed Restorations] into him. He was pale, so pale, and not waking up.

The potions!

I fumbled at my belt, missing the proper release, having a half-dozen of the precious seashells fall, getting stuck in the mud. I grabbed an easy one on the top, popped the cork off, and held it to Kallisto’s mouth, forced open by my hand grabbing his lower jaw.

I looked at him, doubtfully. It might be a risk with my mana, but the fight seemed to be wrapping up. [Greater Invigorate] with almost 500 mana put into it – leaving me with 300 left – and Kallisto shot up with a gasp.

"You’re alive!" I tackled him with a great big hug, knocking him back to the ground.

"Blah." Kallisto spat out some leftover potion. "Elaine, please, next time, death is preferable to that potion. Just let me die."

I laughed, the manic laugh of someone coming down off an adrenaline high, of knowing everything was going to be alright. Kallisto tried to get up again, wincing.

"Can I get a pain-removal skill?" He asked. I almost hit him with a full-body [Deaden Pain], when I had a thought.

I was trying to conserve what little mana I had left. What if I just deadened his sense of pain in his head? Would that work?

I gave it a try, and Kallisto breathed in relief, stress lines all across his face fading. Success! Skill upgrade! Work smarter, not harder!

The monster was vanishing into the distance, Julius hot on its heels. Maximus circled back, and was heading over, looking relieved as Kallisto started to stand up again.

"No. Down." I insisted.

"I’m fine! You patched me up!" Kallisto said.

"I fix the major problems. You’re not fully fixed, and your sense of pain is off – not dulled, not redirected, not morphed, off. You wouldn’t notice Maximus stabbing you in the back right now, let alone something getting worse. Stay down until I say so."

I crossed my arms, and I considered sitting on him to make my point. I decided potentially causing more damage wasn’t the right way to send the message about not causing damage.

Maximus and Origen showed up, and between the three of us, we hauled Kallisto over to the wagon, where Artemis was waiting, beads of sweat running down her face.

"Hey Kallisto, I know you want to get laid, but that’s not how you do it." We all groaned at Artemis’s terrible pun. Satisfied that Kallisto was going to be ok, she followed up.

"Where’s Julius?" I’d been wondering that myself.

"He and Arthur are finishing off the Nothosaurus. He figured they needed just the two of them."

I never wondered where Arthur was, since he was practically invisible half the time.

We spent a tense hour waiting, while I finished healing up Kallisto, giving him the A-ok to start moving again. Finally, we got the notification we’d been waiting for.

[*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Nothosaurus] (Water, lv 412)]

An explosive breath of relief left all of us, and even more cheering as we saw Julius and Arthur show up again.

I rubbed my eyes, making sure they were working. Arthur, showing up in the wild, walking through nature without hiding? Julius was limping slightly, looking exhausted, drained and tired. Well, this was a job for me! I ran over, giving him a shot of [Greater Invigorate], and a [Detailed Restoration] for good measure. Almost all of my mana drained out at the last one, but that was probably due to my lack of focus, than any real injuries.

We dragged ourselves back over to where everyone else was, still around the wagon. Remarkably well-trained horses we had, I was never giving them enough credit. As we arrived, some muted cheers and celebratory noises were made, dampened by the sheer exhaustion weighing over everyone.

"Alright, alright, listen up everyone, I have a thing I need to say." Julius calmed us down, grabbing our attention and the spotlight.

"Elaine." He looked right at me, full-intensity, piercing gaze.

"Yes?" I held myself high, chin up, back straight, meeting his look. I don’t know what he wanted, but I was confident that I’d done well.

"Bit slow on the uptake. Gotta work on that." Ouch. I continued to hold his gaze, not flinching away at the feedback.

"With that being said. You’re one of the bravest people I know. Your dedication to your teammates, and to healing, is second to none. Your willingness to work hard, to do what needs to be done, and commitment to what Rangers do, is top-notch."

I swelled at the praise, hoping he wasn’t buttering me up for a scathing criticism, or was about to ask me to leave the team. A flash of panic went through me. Oh no, was he softening me up before asking me to leave? Did the governor not like a kid hanging-on, and threw his weight around? Was my usefulness done now that we’d killed the beast, and they were going to leave me here in town? It was entirely reasonable to leave me here.

"So Elaine, I need to ask you, formally," Fuck. I knew it. I was being kicked out. I could start to feel a lump form in my throat.

"Will you join us as a Ranger?"

What!?

Chapter 47

VIRINUM V

I blinked in surprise, in confusion, the lump in my throat growing and changing. I wasn’t being kicked out? I was being asked to formally, properly join? I’d be able to call myself a Ranger?

"Now, I know it’s a big decision – you’d be locked with us for the remainder of the trip, you’d need to attend Ranger academy once this route was over, and it’s a long commitment, which –"

I cut him off by giving him one of my patented "crushing" hugs, hurting myself more on his armor than really giving him a good squeeze, but I think the message was clear.

"Yes! Yes! Yes I’ll be a Ranger!" I said around the lump in my throat, eyes threatening to cry happy tears. Julius pried me off of him, and solemnly took the Ranger badge off his chest.

"Elaine of Aquiliea. Wear this symbol with honor, wear it with pride, a sign of protection of the citizens of Remus, and honest deeds bravely done." So saying, he pinned the badge to my chest.

I swelled up with pride as everyone surrounded me, patting me on the back, the shoulders, rubbing my head.

"Congratulations!" Kallisto said.

"One of us! One of us!" Artemis chanted in a silly way, making the smile splitting my face ear-to-ear threaten to crack my face in half.

"Welcome." A rare (Less rare these days) word from Origen was a welcome treat.

Arthur was surprisingly silent, but instead he picked me up, and launched me into the air. Flying! Flight! At long last! I made all sorts of incoherent happy noises as I went up. I wasn’t worried about the way down. I had full faith in my team – and I could really say that now, they were my team – and they caught me on the way down.

Maximus was a bit of a kill joy, but I didn’t care.

"Boss, this is technically against the rules –" He started. Our fearless leader cut him off. "Fuck the rules."

Artemis leaned against the wagon, lines of inscription and mana lighting up as she took one last, deep draw off of it.

"Elaine, hop on!" She said, a platform of stone rising up in front of her. I hopped on, staying on my hands and knees to get a better grip, to be more stable, as she lifted the stone slab – me included – on a brief twirl around the sky.

Oh my gods. I was fucking flying. Not under my own power, but I was soaring through the sky.

Ok, I was like 20 feet off the ground, going in a small, fast circle, but I was flying!!! "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

It felt way too short, and for once, it probably was – only like 8, 9 seconds of flight – before Artemis put me down, new sheen of sweat on her face.

"I thought you said you couldn’t fly?" I asked.

"I can’t. That blew through most of my mana, and it only gets worse as you get heavier."

Julius clapped his hands. "This is all well and good, but why don’t we get back inside the town? I’m sure you all have things you’d like to do."

I saw the light go on in everyone’s eyes. The monster was slain, the problems were gone. We were at a real town. Vacation time!

We all piled into the wagon – we really needed to name this at some point – as Julius took charge, and started to drive it back to town. As we neared the town, he shouted behind him, into the cabin where we all were.

"Quick reminder, tomorrow morning we’re doing our after-action analysis. Today though, enjoy yourself."

Enjoying ourselves would be much easier with energy, and with my insane regeneration, I was full-up again on mana. I hit everyone with a [Greater Invigorate], and we all looked bright-eyed and bushy tailed as we got to the gates. Some enterprising clay-miners (there was probably a fancy word for what they did, but I didn’t know what it was) had already left with large baskets and shovels and were heading down to the river. Some people in just swimming clothes were sprinting towards the river as fast as they could, pushing and shoving.

Why did they want to swim so badly? They could’ve been swimming in the river this whole time.

Ah. Might be diving for treasure. All the people the monster killed, their stuff might be at the bottom of the river, and they were trying to dive for it.

This seemed to be a good moment to check what levels I got from that fight. That fight had been something, and I was eager to see what I got.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 107!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 108!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 109!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 106!].

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 111!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 107!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 108!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 99!].

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 103!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Greater Invigorate] has reached level 101!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 100!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 76!].

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 81!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 104!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 102!].

…

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 105!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 69!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 70!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 100!].

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 91! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 128! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 128!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 91!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the General skill [Ranger’s Lore]!]

[Ranger’s Lore: An elite soldier of the Republic of Remus, you have been inducted into the Rangers. Somehow. Marching. Digging. Wilderness survival. Fighting. These, and the hundred and one other things a Ranger needs, are together in this skill, for as long as you are a Ranger. -512 Mana/Hour]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]

[*ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]

Yes! Sweet, sweet, glorious level-loot. Leveling this much gave me a rush, like a high. I needed a word for it. Julius sadly distracted from my mad internal cackling by asking us. "Alright, everyone who leveled up, raise your hand."

All of our hands went up in the air. Success!

"I got a new skill!" I proudly announced.

"[Ranger’s Lore]?" Kallisto asked.

"Yup!" I proudly wanted to show it off.

"What mana burn rate did you get it at, per day?" Maximus asked.

I did some quick math, which mostly consisted of me re-arranging my display to show per day consumption instead of per hour consumption.

"12,288 mana regeneration per day!" I proudly stated, sure I had a high score. The higher the burn rate on a skill, the more powerful it was. By the same token, the higher the burn rate, the lower your mana regeneration would be. It was all a trade-off, as was nearly everything with the System.

The long low whistle out of Arthur confirmed that was, indeed, a ridiculous number.

"You’re a Ranger now Elaine. I can’t make you take it, but you should take it." Julius suggested.

I dumped [Lost and Found] for it.

The governor was waiting for us as we arrived.

"Success?" He asked. We were all grinning maniacally, high on success, but I guess he wanted verbal confirmation.

"Success!" Julius, being the boss, got to be the one to say it. The governor quickly whispered in someone’s ear, who went off like a shot, as fast as any courier.

"I’d like to invite you all to a feast at my villa this evening." The governor said.

My stomach gurgled, reminding me that the amount of skills, and mana, I’d burnt through would require a feast’s worth of food. I nodded my head furiously, noticing that Artemis had already broken into the dried pork. She caught my eye and passed me some.

"We’d love to." Julius, my savior!

People scurried off, as we went to park the wagon by the guard’s barracks.

"Nice of him to feed us." I said conversationally to Julius. Arthur snorted.

"If we hadn’t killed the monster, you can be sure we’d be politely thanked for our efforts, and been left to fend for ourselves." Arthur rudely educated me. I looked at Artemis. She nodded in confirmation.

"Success is rewarded. Failure isn’t exactly punished, but we’d get the cold shoulder."

"Even if we worked just as hard?" I asked.

"Yup. Success is easy. Failure comes after a lot more work and effort." Julius pointed out.

"Alright, we’re here, the horses are taken care of. You’re all free until sunrise tomorrow. Governor has a feast around sundown, feel free to show up, or not show up. Your call. Elaine, if I can borrow you for a second?" Julius asked.

Everyone but Artemis vanished, off to do gods knows what. Actually, I had a pretty good guess. Kallisto was going to try and find someone to chat up. Arthur was going to see if he could get a bard to write a song about the fight. Maximus was going to try and find an interesting Classer, or possibly get in a fight. Or do both. At the same time. Origen – probably wanted to find a tattoo artist for this latest triumph. Did he even have room left? Did it count enough for him to get a tattoo of it, or was this commonplace for him? Hmm.

"Yes boss?" I asked respectfully. He handed me a pouch full of coins. I hefted it, hearing a wonderful clinking of coins together, a solid weight of security.

"Payment for being a tagger-on healer during the fight. First payment for being a Ranger. Congratulations again."

I smiled and thanked him. The double-pay was above and beyond, and we both knew it, and neither of us were going to say anything about it.

"Come on healy-bug. Let’s go!" The pixie-haired lightning mage called out to me. I scurried along, falling in behind Artemis, fully expecting we’d head to the baths again.

Which we did. Stopping at every. Single. Foodstand. Hot pitas. Mystery meat on a stick. Some cheesy concoction. Fish, so much fish. We’d buy a small meal’s worth at each stand, and eat it on the way to the next stand, slowly pinballing our way back to the baths. I was so hungry from this morning, and now that the excitement from being a real Ranger – me! – was wearing off, my stomach was letting itself be known again. I kept rubbing the badge, now pinned on my tunic, still not believing it was real.

We ate our way through town, me treating Artemis at some stalls with my pile of loot, Artemis buying me some extra tasty treats she thought I’d like. My stomach was a void, a bottomless pit that demanded more.

We made it to the baths, where I had my first dilemma. Normally, you went into the baths like a bath, leaving your things behind in a secure spot. However, I didn’t want to leave my nice new badge behind. I kept rubbing it and looking down, and I was standing in the pseudo-locker room, torn. Artemis saw my hesitation, and rolled her eyes.

"Like this healy-bug." She said, weaving the badge intricately into my hair. "Julius didn’t say it, but do not lose that badge. We’d need to hunt it down, and, well, with your track record, maybe we should just permanently tie it to you…."

I glared at Artemis, offended. That’s not to say they hadn’t gotten a taste of [Lost and Found] working, and, well… if I was being honest, the criticism, and concern, was fair.

I breathed in and out, letting my annoyance go.

"Understood. I love this badge too much to let it go."

"Good! Now scrub." Artemis said, handing me a hardened sponge made out of, well, sponge. Turns out it was originally some seaside critter.

I made a whining noise, only to see a smile from the devil himself cross Artemis’s face.

"You’re a Ranger now. A junior Ranger now. Listening to your senior Ranger is natural, mmm?" She said, pushing the sponge into my hand, turning over in the water.

"Now scrub."

Damnit. I knew there was a catch!

Around sunset – not that we could tell in the steamy baths, but Artemis had a second sense for it – we hauled ourselves out, dried off, got dressed, and headed off towards the governor’s villa. We weren’t too interested in rubbing elbows with the movers and shakers of Virinum, but the food? The food was another matter entirely. We were the ones who’d been using skills, and as such, mana, the most, and while we’d raided every food stand between the barracks and the baths, the prospect of a feast with more food – that importantly, we didn’t need to pay for – was enough to make it our plans for the evening.

The villa was easy enough to find – big, grandiose, and a number of rich-looking people heading towards it, with all sorts of light sources floating around. I eyed what could only be called a floating lantern. Must be a skill of some sort. Must be expensive.

We arrived at the gates with our lead eating boots on, ready to do serious damage to whatever food was ready. We were stopped by the guards – not Guards, just guards – who didn’t recognize us.

"Excuse me, this party is for the Ranger squad, and prominent members of Virinum. You’re not on the list." He said, giving us a smug and pompous look.

Artemis and I traded looks of disbelief. Disbelief had many flavors. Disbelief of bad news. Disbelief of incredulity. Disbelief of fact. It had many subtle nuances, many tiny ways of being different.

Mine was some hot, fiery outrage. How dare they! Couldn’t they see my badge, see that I was a real Ranger now! They were just looking down on me, rabble rabble rabble.

Artemis’s flavor of disbelief was fairly nuanced. Amused, mostly. A type of disbelief flavored with impending schadenfreude. She’d been through this a dozen times, and would go through it a dozen times more. I let her handle the talking this time, although I ‘helped’ by giving them the stink-eye.

"Yes," She started. "I’m well aware. See, I’m not from around here. Neither is she. This little badge riiiiiiiight here," She pointed to the Ranger eagle, prominently on her chest. "Is my entry ticket. Rangers, right?"

Disbelief, from the guards. Flavored with ‘can you believe the audacity?’ Artemis sighed, rolled her eyes, and shot a lightning bolt from one hand to the next, causing us – and most of the people nearby – to jump, and clap their hands over their ears.

"Look familiar? Perhaps from today’s fight, that I’m sure you were all watching from safely behind the walls?" Artemis gave them a Look, one foot tapping impatiently.

The guard, unable to meet Artemis’s challenge, looked at me, and seized the moment.

"Fine. But she can’t come in." Artemis opened her mouth, no doubt to give another scathing retort, but I was on fire today. Mostly copying Artemis.

"See this badge riiiiiiiiiiiight here?" I asked, puffing out my chest, pointing at my shiny new badge that was all mine. "Says I’m a Ranger. I was out there, this morning, not safe behind the walls." I stuck my tongue out at him, ruining the moment.

The guards were looking doubtful, and Artemis chimed in, thinking I’d done my part to stand up for myself. "Short pipsqueak, ran directly towards the monster 300 levels above her when he got hit. Hard to see the details of someone so short in armor when you’re sooooo very far away. Plus, and this should matter more to you," Artemis leaned in, real close, and her voice became somewhat threatening. "another Ranger is vouching for her. Piss off."

The guards were not inclined to piss off, not when they were, presumably, being paid good money to do so, but Kallisto swung by, arm-in-arm with a beautiful lady.

"I thought I heard the sound of my favorite lightning mage! So glad you came, Artemis!"

With one more confirmed Ranger, and presumably whatever mover and shaker Kallisto had picked up giving confirmation by her simple presence, we were let in.

It was a wonderfully opulent party, and it gave me a brief flashback to Kerberos’s villa. I shuddered slightly at the memory, before perking up as we found the food.

Yummy, yummy food.

Artemis and I plowed through the offerings, making the barest hint of small talk to avoid being actively rude. It helped having food in your mouth, fewer people wanted to have a sustained conversation. We wolfed down food. We ate like we hadn’t seen food in weeks, like a pigs at a trough. We wouldn’t care what the food was, but there was so much of it, and it was so tasty, that we could afford to be picky, while still eating like we were breathing air. There were all sorts of interesting drinks, and with no drinking age, I sampled a few.

"Watch it Elaine, the drinks here are brewed by master [Brewer]’s, and are aimed at people with a high vitality. They’ll hit you like a wagon at full speed if you’re not careful." Artemis warned me. I carefully nodded, showing that I was absolutely not drunk at all. Just tipsy.

I saw Julius here and there, properly rubbing elbows with the high and mighty, looking like he wasn’t having the time of his life. Pitfalls of being the boss.

In this celebration of gluttony, my keen eyes were on the constant lookout for mangos. Those juicy, blessed fruit from the gods, my raison d’etre, my one true love. Not a single one here. Made me think about what the mango-seller had said, something about the supply being interrupted. Why had it been interrupted? Ooh, something that looked like pigs-in-a-blanket!

The party started to wind down, and Artemis, Julius, and I drunkenly headed back arm-in-arm-in-arm, our swaying mostly balancing each other out so we all remained stable and upright.

Ok, fine, it was mostly my swaying between the two of them, since they knew how to hold their liquor and I had gone a teeeeny bit overboard. Could I even drunk being cure? [Medicine] said yes, but it was a whooozy yes. Nah, no need, I was sober. Totally sober. Better not say anything though.

What happened next was fairly hazy. I remember getting back to the wagon, getting tucked into a sleeping bag of some sort. A peaceful, blissful night’s sleep.

Chapter 48

VIRINUM VI

I woke up hating life. My head was murdering me, and a quick check through [Medicine] told me that I had a hangover, and that none of my skills were hangover cures. Dehydration. I needed to let Julius know that dehydration was a weakness of mine.

I groaned, head pounding, as I rolled over on the floor of the wagon. Water. Must find water. The door flung open, the light burning my eyes, as Artemis, with a fake-cheery voice designed to cruelly torture me said.

"Rise and shine! Time for our meeting!"

I felt – and probably looked and smelled – like death warmed over. But I was a Ranger now. Me! A Ranger! I gotta show up. I gotta prove I’m worthy of this.

But doing it all with a hangover? Oh, kill me now. Artemis passed me a waterskin, which I greedily guzzled

With a groan, I dragged myself out, following Artemis to where the meeting was. I wasn’t quite sure, my lack of social graces combined with a hangover interfering with everything fuzzed things – [Centered Mind] had nothing for hangovers apparently – but I’m sure there were a bunch of glances and secret smiles directly towards me. Something something look at the poor hungover girl.

[Healing Aura] was helping though, along with the water, and I was perking up as the meeting began.

"Alright everyone." Julius started. "What went well, what didn’t go well. Origen, you start."

Origen shrugged and gave a thumbs up. Julius rolled his eyes, trying to mimic his words non-verbally like Origen did.

"Maximus?" Julius asked.

"Double-headed spear did fine. I’d want to look into something like that to stake down flippers in future fights – it worked amazingly well."

"Elaine?"

"I froze. I need to practice not freezing, and moving the moment there’s a problem. In a perfect world, I’d know ahead of time, and start moving before anyone’s hurt." A lot of words for someone who’d just woken up, but I had spent a good amount of yesterday analyzing and planning.

We kept going around, discussing what went well, what failed.

"Hey Artemis," I said, remembering something I’d thought of when I saw last night’s demonstration. "I thought of a non-lethal skill for you, might have helped in the fight. You needing to knock the monster off-track made me think of it."

"Oh?" Artemis and Maximus asked in tandem, leaning forward to hear me better.

"Yeah, a flash-bang! Big burst of light, loud clap of thunder, and you can really disorient someone. It’s a non-lethal way to disabling someone. Should be doable with Lightning, but what do I know?"

Artemis and Julius both looked interested, glancing at each other.

"You do need a way to take someone down besides sticking them in a stone box." Julius pointed out.

"That is a lot of mana. Let me see if I can make something work with just my manipulation skill. I’ll see if I get offered something when I next level up." Artemis looked thoughtful, but blessedly didn’t start experimenting during the meeting.

"Origen. Elaine. Class-up?" We both nodded our head, a look of surprise on my face that Julius was tracking us so closely. Well, more that somehow, he knew Origen was ready to class up.

"Let us know when you’re ready, we’ll guard you while you class up." That was a nice offer, and I had a better understanding of why that was the case now. You were completely and totally helpless and vulnerable while classing up, and it was obvious what was happening. It was rare, but not impossible, for someone to go "missing" during their class up. Some thieves and gangs just couldn’t resist someone with an almost literal glowing neon sign of "I can’t resist and won’t do anything for several hours." I had more to worry about than Origen, but even he wouldn’t like waking up naked with no clothes.

Artemis, as always, had great advice for me. "You should talk with Maximus." Well, less advice, and more where to get the best advice. I bristled at the thought that I wouldn’t think of that myself, but breathed, letting the hot anger leave me, the cool rational stay behind.

I hunted down Maximus, and asked for his advice. Naturally, the first thing he asked for was a full breakdown of all my stats, skills, and levels.

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 14]

[Mana: 2470/2470]

[Mana Regen: 5536]

Stats

[Free Stats: 22]

[Strength: 20]

[Dexterity: 20]

[Vitality: 41]

[Speed: 32]

[Mana: 247]

[Mana Regeneration: 695]

[Magic Power: 243]

[Magic Control: 773]

[Class 1: [Light of Hope - Light: Lv 128]+]

[Light Affinity: 128]

[Calming Aura: 109]

[Medicine: 111]

[Healing Aura: 108]

[Detailed Restoration: 103]

[Flashlight: 93]

[Greater Invigorate: 101]

[Centered Mind: 100]

[Class 2: [Shadow Healer - Dark: Lv 91]]

[Dark Affinity: 91]

[Deaden Pain: 75]

[Surgeon's Scalpel: 78]

[Attack Bacteria: 69]

[Parasitic Remover: 36]

[Tissue Removal: 76]

[Cure Toxin: 82]

[Privacy: 68]

[Class 3: Locked]

General Skills

[Identify: 71]

[Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]

[Pretty: 96]

[Vigilant: 104]

[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]

[Ranger’s Lore: 1]

[Running: 70]

[Learning: 100]

He started muttering system-geek-gibberish to himself, an arcane set of math known only to himself. Artemis was hanging out, while Origen was deep in consultation with Julius.

"Skill-wise, you’re in a good spot. I wouldn’t change anything about what you have, nor would I delay classing up to level up more. Although, getting Ranger’s Lore up could get you a Ranger-related class. However, I don’t think we have any Ranger-healing classes, since we don’t have that many healers anyways. Stats are tricky. You’re close to a few significant markers on your Magic stats, but you really, really, need to be spending your free stats on your Physical stats. Artemis?"

Artemis’s cheeks puffed out as she blew a long breath of air through them. "Yeah, tricky. On one hand, you’re in desperate need of every physical stat you can get. On the other, you don’t want to cripple what you’re good at. How many stats do you think Elaine should be using?"

"18 out of the 22 free stats." Maximus calculated out.

Oof. This was tricky. On one hand, I needed to be good at what I did, and it sounded like I could get some serious oomph by putting relatively few stats to good use. On the other, I was in a fucking risky profession, and there was no point in being a good healer, and dead in an ambush.

I closed by eyes to think about it. If I spent my stats, 4 free… "Does 24 Dexterity ever help?" I asked. Maximus shrugged. "Maybe. Unlikely with the class you have."

That sentence did it for me, strangely enough. "I have faith in all of you. I’m going to put the points into Magic, and then go back to putting them into Physical stats for a while. When I get to my next class-up, I’ll consider hitting the Magic stats again for milestones."

"Seems reasonable." Maximus said. With that, I allocated my stats, getting Mana to 250, Regen to 700, Power to 250, and Control to 775. I threw the remainder into Dexterity, wincing as the tiny number went up a small amount. A rounding error on my Control was practically my entire Dexterity stat.

"Are both of you ready?" Julius asked. Origen and I nodded, and climbed into the wagon, settling down. Something I learned from my non-Artemis class-ups was to be in a cozy place, otherwise I’d wake up sore and bruised from being in the same position for hours on end.

"Elaine, wait." Maximus interrupted suddenly. "I don’t think anyone’s gone over the 128 change with you, right?"

I nodded my head, confused. There was a change?

"Level 128 class changes usually see a fairly large spike in the stats/level you get. It only gets bigger once you hit 256, which is what Origen is hitting now. Don’t be too surprised if the numbers are that much bigger. Take your time, see what’s what."

The light in Origen’s eyes vanished, as a shimmering, misty light surrounded him, indicating that he was far away, in the depths of his soul, finding a new class. He probably had thousands of inscription pens and brushes in there, and he needed to find the right one to write the next chapter of his life.

"Elaine, quick reminder." Julius hopped in next to me, crouching to be at eye level. "You know all this, but we need you as a healer. I doubt you’d pick something as a not-healer, not with your Oath, but if you’re having doubts, talk to me instead of classing up and grabbing something behind my back, ok?" He tilted his head, thinking.

"Now, if you find something silly powerful, like a green or a blue class, go nuts and grab it. It’ll be hard, but we’ll work around it. Don’t cripple your role for us, but please – keep us in mind."

"Heh- I turned down a violet class once." I wanted to brag a bit. I got some raised eyebrows as a response. "Must be one hell of a story." Julius commented. Kallisto groaned. "I hate you so much." He said.

"Ehhh….. the problem with the class was I stumbled onto the requirements by complete accident, but then couldn’t do anything in the class. I’d have been like a fisherman stranded in a forest – can’t level up [Fisherman] if there’s no water and no fish, right?"

I turned to Kallisto. "A level 8 purple class vs a level 128 healer with a pink class. Who wins?"

Kallisto looked a bit less sour at that. "Barring any massive surprises, the 128, even if she’s a healer."

"Exactly. That would’ve been me, and to boot, I wouldn’t have my second class even. Probably. There was some funkiness with my early levels…."

Julius held his hand up, killing the conversation.

"This sounds like a wonderful story for another time. Elaine, you’re great, we’re here for you, just try to be here for us."

I had every intention of picking a healer class, but his words of concern were nice, showing me that I was a true member of the team, and I wasn’t just some hanger-on with a fancy badge.

I closed my eyes and focused, feeling myself being pulled into the world of my soul.

Chapter 49

CLASSING IT UP I

I open my eyes, back in the library of my soul. Librarian was waiting for me with a smile, and this time, she was dressed in a beautiful long tunic, as deep purple as I’d ever seen before. If this was in the real world, there’d be houses cheaper than her- my- dress.

"Welcome back!" She came over and gave me a big hug. "You’re back so much faster than I expected!" She was right – I didn’t think I’d be back here for years! Being with the Rangers, diving into that fire, had driven my levels up faster than they had any right to.

"Why the tunic? It’s lovely by the way, I wish I had one." I said with a note of longing in my voice.

A slow, almost sad, smile went across her face.

"It’s because, in your heart, Pallos is home now. Not Earth. If we get another starter class – if the third class unlocks for us – we’ll get [Child of Pallos]."

In one sense, I was sad. Earth was gone, and I was truly a Child of Pallos now. In another, it just brought to the front of my mind something that’d been lurking there for a while. I wasn’t really an Earthling anymore, no matter how much I was leaning on the whole "reincarnated" thing right now. I was a Pallosian. I think that’s what we were called.

"Right this way." Librarian led me to an area she’d carefully setup, filled with books on wonderous classes.

Oh, none of these were my class-up options, not unless I wanted to do a complete class change and revert back to level 8, grabbing a new initial class in the process. I did have dozens, if not hundreds of new options – my increased stats and achievements over time helped. No, these were stories of adventure, of romance, of interesting-potential-Elaines that could’ve been, but weren’t. There was no fiction section in the real world, there were no repositories of knowledge, no internet and the hundreds of thousands of books. I only had this one library, with interesting books. I was going to make every minute count.

There was something strange about time here – it went both fast and slow. I could spend several hours reading, and a moment would pass outside, but conversely, I could spend 10 minutes here, and 15 could pass outside. It was fairly arbitrary, and not even Maximus could explain what was going on.

Reminded me of stories of the Fairy Realm. I sat down, looking at the rainbow-colored pile of books in front of me, and started to read.

[Werewolf Lover]. A steamy romance novel, where the title basically said it all.

[Monster Tamer - Small]. Taming the smallest critters as animal companions. Cute cats. Singing birds. Small, snappy dinosaurs. So cute!

[Flexible Weapon Novice]. A story where I became an apprentice to Maximus, learning all sorts of weapons, how to smoothly move between them. Nunchucks! Swords! Shuriken! Lances! Axes and polearms, bows and arrows, pots and pans, a giant purple – who would fight with that!?

[Flame Invoker]. A delicious story of throwing fireballs, of the flames within me becoming more real, more physical. But mostly a large application of fireballs to whatever problems occurred. Fireballllsssss.

[Speedster]. Where I took my running to the extreme, learning tricks of the trade from Julius. How to be fast, how to not get hit, how to take [Running] and move it to the next level, and beyond!

[Fairy Supplicant]. Petitioning the Fae, dancing with the Sidhe. Dark deals with the Unseelie court, graceful moments of beauty with the Seelie. A bizarre and wondrous tale. A fantasy novel for a place like Pallos!

[Stealthy Scout]. How Arthur does all his tricks, a bible. Sneaking into towns. Stalking in forests. Vanishing when people’s backs were turned, showing up in the middle of a crowd like magic. I could practically hear my voice turn gravelly. For some reason, the book was written like a film noir.

[Inscription Apprentice]. Learning the secrets of runes and inscriptions, being able to make all sorts of oddities and wonders, where the knowledge of Earth met the magic of Pallos. Fridges. Ovens. Moving carts. And more!

It was a kinda boring book though, I wonder why Librarian included it.

[Light-Shaping Illusionist]. Movies! I could make, and play, movies! Granted, watching them was hard, but I always enjoyed a good tale of fame and fortune off of my own hard work.

Ok, fine, it wasn’t my own hard work, but there were no copyright lawyers on Pallos.

There better not be – I’d hate myself forever if I somehow accidentally invented them, or caused them to be made.

I closed the last book with a contented sigh, looking at the thousands of other novels scattered about. Just one more couldn’t hurt right…?

A soft cough behind me reminded me that yes, I needed to keep on moving. With a great big huffy sigh, I got up, heading over to the stairs.

The first class-up books were kept on the ground floor. The delicate chain blocking off the staircase had vanished when I came back to do my second class-up, and I followed the stairs up. While the first floor was rows upon rows of library shelves, packed with books, the second floor was more muted, dozens of 4-seater tables, with a book at every place to sit. The chain that’d been there last time, blocking off the 3rd floor, was now gone, and it was up that staircase I climbed, heart pounding.

What would I get? What was there? My future was above these stairs, just a few more steps! I wiped my sweaty palms on my tunic – how was I sweating here!?

The books here were even fewer – around a dozen – and each one was enclosed in a glass case, like the rarest and most precious of books. I looked around again. I would be able to read and check every single one.

While the 1st floor books were colored depending on how strong they were – or so it seemed – these books were clearly colored with a different color scheme. Verdant green, brilliant white, soft yellows and misty blues all caught my eye, along with more.

I decided to start with the book closest to me, a soft yellow cover, indicating it was the Light element, with a pink title, and work my way around in a circle.

[Artemis’s Eager Pet - Light] Was the title, back in the familiar configuration. I turned to the Librarian, arching an eyebrow. Really?

She walked over, and seeing the title of the book, facepalmed. "Really Elaine? What have you been doing to get this class?" I looked away, guilty at that. Right, she wasn’t the one that made the classes, just guided me. It was my choices and actions that lead to it being an option. I peeked inside, because it was a book.

Yeah, it was fairly demeaning. The only potentially useful thing in it was an [Artemis Finder] skill, but even that had poor shades to it. Moving on.

[Glutton of Virinum - Light] Was the name of the book, and I wanted the library to open up and swallow me whole. There was a reason for all that food! I needed it after blowing through so much mana! All of the skills were related to eating. [Unhinged Jaw]. [Rapid Consumption]. [Instant Digestion]. [Compact Figure]. The last one would make me look pretty to my perception no matter how much I ate – a dream from Earth. I shook my head at it. Not worth it.

[Breaker of Chains - Wind] was up next. It didn’t look healer-based, but the name was intriguing enough for me to take a look. Requirements: Broken out of captivity. Your desire to be as free as the wind. With this class, you’ll never be chained down, always able to escape like the breeze. +16 Free Stats per level.

I eyed it, wavering. It spoke to me on a deep, primal level. In the end, I reluctantly put it down, moving on.

In a book somehow a clear crystal color, while also being opaque, was [Foundation of the Hospital – Arcanite]. I didn’t bother reading it. It wasn’t an option, just letting me know that I’d been close to being able to get the class. I moved on, and started to get some options I’d consider taking.

[Splendid Medic – Light] Requirements: [Light of Hope]. 500+ Mana Regen. Healing the poorest, the outcast, those who even wish you harm. The ideal medic, you bring hope to the sick and injured, that they can find salvation in your skills. +2 Free Stats, +4 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +4 Magic Power, +10 Magic Control per level.

A direct upgrade of my current class, but I wasn’t too sure. It felt like "yeah… you got to a class up… congratulations…", like someone at the DMV stamping paperwork to get your license. Sure, it was an upgrade. But it was a reluctant one. I’d done so much more than just heal people, and I expected some of my class options to reflect that. I put it on the table, creating a "shortlist" of books that were acceptable to me. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t unacceptable the way [Artemis’s Eager Pet - Light] had been.

Speaking of reflecting….

[Picture of Health – Mirror] Requirements: Be consistently in good health. Healed those you saw. Mana 250+, Mana Regeneration 250+, Magic Power 250+, Magic Control 250+. You are the very picture of health, and in your reflection, you can restore others to the same level of well-being that you are currently at. +4 Free Stat, +8 Vitality, +12 Mana, +12 Mana Regen, +12 Magic Power, +12 Magic Control per level.

I read it a bit further. I’d be able to restore people at a distance! They’d get healed up to however healthy I was at the time. The problem immediately jumped out at me.

I couldn’t heal myself anymore. If I got hurt, that’d be like everyone in the team getting hurt. If I hadn’t been invited to the Rangers, if I wasn’t a Ranger myself now, it’d be tempting. As it was, it’d make me a glass-cannon healer, shattering in a single blow. It would mean that I wouldn’t have to do suicidal runs like the one to save Kallisto’s life, but as Artemis’s tapestry of scars attested to, the glass cannon in the back was not safe.

Still, it was an option, and it was an upgrade. Moving on.

[Oathbound Healer – Brilliance] Requirements: Faithful adherence to the [Oath of Elaine to Lyra]. You took a solemn vow to protect and heal, and by and large, you’ve mostly been sticking to it. With this, the Oath settles deep into you; you become a living, breathing embodiment of it.

I didn’t bother to check the stats, or the skills, before throwing the book away. That sounded suspiciously like my mind would be hijacked and thoroughly bound, and I got into this in the first place trying to escape chains.

Yes, I’d taken the Oath. Yes, I followed it, even to my detriment, even when it looked like Kallisto might run me through. But I had a choice. This sounded like it’d remove even the illusion of choice I’d given myself, and Elaine would vanish, to be replaced by a living, breathing flesh-golem following the commands of the Oath.

No.

Librarian threw me a dirty look as she picked the book off the floor, and carefully put it back into its case. "You know, that one gave almost 130 stat points per level." She curtly informed me.

My heart wavered the smallest hair at that, my desire for stats and to not be a burden nudging the meter.

A green book caught my eye next.

[Viridescent Druid – Verdant] Requirements: Love of healing all things, great and small. Magic stats all 150+. Healing skills. Willingness to heal non-humans. Your open mind and desire to heal has you trying healing animals as well as humans. With this, your dream comes true – you can heal animals and plants, as well as humans. +6 Free Stats, +2 Vitality, +2 Dexterity, +4 Mana, +4 Mana Regen, +6 Magic Control, +4 Magic Power per level.

I whistled, opening the book, peering into the depths. It showed me, glowing green light around me, every step restoring a tree, healing a bird’s broken wing. Beloved of animals and plants, able to having a glowing green radiance heal all things great and small. I narrowed my eyes as I checked carefully. Yes, I could still heal humans, but they got no special benefit or extras. I could also heal myself still. Ok, good, good, there wasn’t an obvious trap here. I stacked it on top of the [Splendid Medic] book already there.

[Therapeutic Bard – Sound] was next up. I paged through it idly, not really thinking I’d take it. I loved music, but I hadn’t played anything here. I had never been much of a player anyways, more a listener. I got slightly more interested when I realized it worked off of me singing – I could sing people into better health, and all who heard me got its benefits. There was even a chapter where, with the right set-up, I was able to get a healing noise echoing throughout an entire town, a feat of mass-healing that none of the other classes came even close to. I went back to the start, and looked over it again. The healing wasn’t particularly strong healing – this was a trade-off of individual power, for bulk, mass-healing. Let me check those stats…

+10 Free Stats, +6 Dexterity, +6 Speed, +8 Mana, +5 Mana Regen, +4 Magic Control, +10 Magic Power per level. Not bad.

I placed it on the table with [Viridescent Druid], the seemingly-innocent book I thought I’d discard making the shortlist.

[Goddess-Touched Priestess of Papilion - Mist] was next, an offer to become Papilion’s mouthpiece once more offering itself up. I eyed it warily, not even lifting it out of its case. Something related to Papilion showed up every time I changed my class, and small alarm bells were starting to go off. Had Librarian really showed me the class last time because it was one of the more powerful ones? Or was there something more sinister going on?

I shook my head. Librarian was me. I had to have faith in myself. If my inner soul was compromised, I was doomed already. I looked at her, and she slowly nodded at me, confirming that she was I, and I was her, and we were one and the same, untainted.

Next book.

[Enduring Courier – Wind] Requirements: [Running] over level 50. Ran for hours on end without stopping. Used skills to continue running.

I stopped reading at that point. There was no way that was a healer-tagged class, and I’d worked too hard at it to pitch it for running, as much as I loved it.

Sure, I loved running, but I was a Healer, first and foremost.

I moved onto the next book, checkered lights on a black field. Most of the glass cases had one lock that Librarian undid as I arrived at them, this one had two.

[Constellation of the Healer – Celestial] Requirements: Light-aligned and Dark-aligned healing class. 150+ in each magic stat. Affinity for the stars and sky. You have walked beneath the Dragoneye Moons, healing all they can see – and more. +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic Control, +15 Magic Power, per level

I read it carefully, eyes going wide. This was a merged class! It took both my Light and my Dark class into a single one. It was less powerful than the two classes working in tandem – even as they were now – but it was flexible. Problem was, it was still touch-range only. I weighed my options. Was that enough to disqualify it? I’d seen the problems being touch-range caused, and this wasn’t going to help me in the physical stat department. It did have a bunch of free stats though…

I decided that was musings for later, and I added it to the shortlist.

The next class was one I was sure would be here, and it was.

[Fire Rescuer - Light] Requirements – Dove into a fire to rescue someone. Bravery in the face of flames. You’re insane. Completely, certifiably, insane. You run into a burning building, poorly equipped, to save people. Congratulations. With this class, you can do it again, with protection from flames, protection from smoke, the ability to find people and pull them out, and the ability to cure fire-related injuries. +5 Free, +9 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +8 Vitality, +7 Speed, +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +3 Magic Power per level.

I hesitated over the class, before deciding that it met my shortlist criteria well enough to make this round of cuts. I was unsure about the stat focus suddenly being physical – although it made sense, and I did need a lot more physical stats.

"Hey Librarian, what do you think?" I asked, gesturing at the five books in front of me. [Splendid Medic]. [Viridescent Druid]. [Therapeutic Bard]. [Constellation of the Healer]. [Fire Rescuer]. She sat down in front of me, looking at the books. Upside down. I guess she had a skill for that.

"Well, that depends what you want."

"The first book is if you’re happy and content with what you have, and you want to go a bit further with it. The second one is if you want to start healing animals as well, possibly moving you to be some sort of Veterinarian in the future. Weaker heals, larger scope. The bard class is similar – more people at once, but a weaker heal. The Celestial class is a merger – weaker than your two classes working together, but you get a class slot freed up. You take a quarter-step away from being a Healer, but can gain so much more – even something like a Wood healing-class to compliment it. Lastly, Fire Rescuer is a laser-focus on a particular niche. You’d be great at it, but you’d run into the [World Traveler] problem."

Right, where opportunities to BE a [Fire Rescuer] would be limited. I re-read through the book, realizing that healing people normally would also be weakened. Injuries relating to fire, I’d be amazing at, but other things? I gently set it to the side. Strike that out.

I put [Splendid Medic] off to the side as well. That was my "If I hated the rest" option, not my first option. Continuing on.

[Therapeutic Bard] was the next one that bit the dust. I wouldn’t have been able to pull a stunt like saving Kallisto, and from the look, and sound, of the Rangers, small, moderate healing wasn’t their concern, it was the big, sudden injuries. The Rangers were 6 – 7 with me – people, not 700.

My eyes were drawn like magnetism, like the eyes of the moon, to [Constellation of the Healer]. I had weaknesses, I had strengths. This kept all of my strengths, and let me handle my weaknesses, by giving me another class. Fuck. That was insanely strong now that I was thinking about it.

[Viridescent Druid] also kept most of my strengths, while covering one of my weaknesses – range – but the healing light it’d provide was, upon careful reading, weaker than what I currently had. [Constellation] was a bit weaker, but it was more due to compression of skills than a powering-down of skills. It still left me vulnerable; needing to touch people to heal them, but that weakness of mine could be mitigated by my second class, also shoring up multiple weaknesses at once.

[Constellation] it was. Silently, knowing I’d made my choice, we reverently put the books back, and headed downstairs. We made it to the library checkout desk, where I handed over my book for the Light class and the Celestial class, and waited for Librarian to check the book out to me. She stared at me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I need the [Shadow Healer] book as well." She said, holding out her hand.

Oh right, whoops. Combined class and all that. I fumbled it out – where had it been hiding? – and handed it over. She took the two books, and handed me one back.

"Goodbye Librarian. I hope to see you soon." I said, waiting to leave, to wake back up. She just gave me a Look.

"You need a second book, remember?"

Chapter 50

CLASSING IT UP II

Right! I got to pick a second class! Which meant more reading time!

"Elaine, you don’t have all day to keep reading. It’s already been hours and hours." Librarian, knowing what I was thinking either through mind reading or just being me, put a damper on my enthusiasm. Hang on.

"The books you picked earlier. They weren’t just for my fun, were they?" I asked, pieces of the puzzle coming together with a click. I thought I’d seen a theme.

Librarian gave a slow, secret smile. "They were picked for your fun. However, knowing the Celestial class was an option, I might of, oh, selected with an eye towards picking a second class." Her face went from smiling to frowny, as she picked up a book.

"However, you dumbass! Don’t come in here with level 1 skills!" She said, smacking the book down in front of me.

[Ranger-Mage] started at me balefully. I checked the requirements. Level 10 Ranger Lore was the only thing I was missing. I facepalmed. Yup, I was a dumbass. I’d agree with any insult Librarian threw at me; it was like channeling myself. Gods, talking with her was trippy.

Moving on. I was in a bit of a pickle. Even when I was a kid, I had some idea of what I wanted when I went to class-up. I went in fully expecting to upgrade my Light class, and all of a sudden, I needed to pick a new class. I had some time to think – it wasn’t like I was in a life or death crunch right now – unless we’d gotten attacked and people were desperately waiting for me to wake up? I shook my head at the thought. Sidetracked. That’d be like one of the novels I’d been reading here.

I ignored the fact that all the novels here tried to mimic what my life would be like.

Moving on. One of the big appeals of the Celestial class was that I could pick a second class to cover my weaknesses. Time to do some thinking.

I had Light and Dark healing covered. That naturally covered me for Water as well, since it was mostly weak versions of all healing. Although Water could fix my blood loss problem, and handle dehydration. Too niche to devote an entire class towards. That left Wood, which focused on making medicine. I could pick that, and go deep into healing – basically be triple-classed in it – but who’d buy medicine and potions from me when I could just heal them directly? Well, someone who might need it when I wasn’t around. That wouldn’t be the Rangers though. No, I needed to pick something to cover my weaknesses, ideally while playing to my strengths.

Right now, my obvious weakness were my physical stats. While I was level 128, a level 35 or so fighter could probably just punch me, and I’d be lights out. A 10-year-old with a physical focus was stronger than me. Ideally, I’d get something to help cover that weakness.

At the same time, if I split my second class to purely something physical, I’m not sure it’d work. Jack of all trades, master of none. Maybe I should lean into my magical stats, and pick something that used those stats to help keep me safe.

Like an invisible hand had grabbed my head, I turned and looked at the book Librarian had smacked down in front of me. [Ranger-Mage]. Fuck. That would’ve been perfect, wouldn’t it? A mage-class focused on how Rangers do things?

I took a deep breath in and out, and went to look at what else was being offered. Librarian, through her hinting, was right. I should pick something that I could be taught and mentored in. Picking up something like a Wood-based healer class, when I had no potion or medicine teacher, was asking for disaster. The natural extension of that is I should pick something that I could be taught in, and the question was practically "Who do I want to learn from", which translated into "Who would I like to be?"

Artemis instantly sprang to mind. I coldly crushed my hero-worship of her deep down, and vowed to give everyone an equal chance, and evaluate them all on their merits.

Origen I quickly looked at, and ditched. Healing was complicated enough, and learning how to inscribe things wouldn’t cover my weaknesses at all, it’d just increase the workload on my plate. Learning how to carve runes seemed like a full-time job in and of itself, and while I was ok not being the best at something, being mediocre at this felt the same as just being bad at it. Moving on.

Arthur’s I eyed, before deciding it met the shortlist criteria. I slowly realized something as I read over the book, thinking about Arthur.

"There was a second class being mentored by him, wasn’t there?" I asked Librarian. She nodded. My sneaking suspicion was rising.

"I’m going to regret this. What was it?" I asked, mentally preparing myself for the blow.

[Cruel Poisoner] was the book she brought out, and I was glad to see the System didn’t feel like I had the right mentality for the class. I met the rest of the requirements though, which just brought a stab of pain through my heart again. Why did I ask? My curiosity in here caused problems.

Still! Sneaky, sneaky wilderness healer! It appealed. Arthur, less so. I kept the Stealth class as an option.

I didn’t have an option from Kallisto. I was too far away from being a tank, and I was still allergic to social skills – something he had in spades. Thinking about it, I should ask him for lessons anyways. I hated how right mom had been. However, that was for another day. Either way, no class from him.

Julius was next, and my love of running shot learning how to be a speedster right to the top of the pile. I eyed the title somewhat warily. Could I be The Flash with this? I wasn’t ready to commit to anything yet, but it went to the top of the pile, along with whatever thinking I did about Artemis.

I decided to take a look at the [Monster Tamer – Small] class. It was solid, but there was so rarely a single, solid companion – more of a steady stream. This wasn’t like Damonus’s class, where he had a mass number of small creatures at his questionable command, but no matter if it was a dinosaur or a cat, the short lifespan of a small creature came back again, and again.

The class would be so much better if I’d taken the Verdant class I’d been offered, and I could heal my animal companion well. At the same time, if I’d taken it, I wouldn’t have the animal companion class as an option to choose from.

My heart had broken, had shattered into a thousand pieces, when I lost Lyra, and the closeness of the bonds required for [Monster Tamer] did mean with the joy of companionship, there’s be the pain of loss.

I couldn’t do it. Not that frequently. Maybe if there was a medium or large Tamer class, or extended lifespan skills. I had more options though.

Maximus was last, and his book was interesting. Flexibility was the name of the game. I wouldn’t want to be the strongest, or the best, at anything, but I would know the whole rock-paper-scissors of weapons, and know what beat what. While I wouldn’t be as good, I’d know how to find and exploit weak points.

I allowed myself to think of Artemis. Magic, magic, and more magic. Blasting magic. Subtle magic. Defensive magic.

I took a huge breath in, and explosively let it out. Damnit. There was no way I was passing up a chance to be a mage, not when my plan A of healing was so good. I could finally arrive at my long-cherished dream of throwing fireballs around.

Hang on, this wasn’t the time to be dreaming, or thinking small.

"Hey Librarian," I asked. "Is there a mage-class that lets me use fireballs and fly?" Two birds, one stone. Two birds, one stone. She looked at me with a twist of her lips, eyes crinkling up.

"Not that you can take right now. But, if you want to get started on the path…" She trailed off as I nodded my head furiously enough to give myself brain damage if this was the real world.

"Let me get you the starter class." She said, getting up and vanishing into the stacks.

My heart was racing. Flying! Fireballs! As seconds stretched into minutes, a slightly more rational part of myself took over.

Mages, for the most part, leveled up by killing things. I wasn’t a killer. I’d sworn first, to do no harm. How was I going to level high enough to get to the flying fireball Elaine?

I mercilessly crushed and discarded that part of me. FI-RE-BALL! FI-RE-BALL! I chanted mentally. I knew I wasn't being entirely rational, but it spoke to my heart, sang to every fiber of my being. Even if I just ended up being a one-class girl, the healing class was strong enough to carry me. This fit me like a second skin, this was me. My dream since I was reborn of being able to fling around fireballs was around the corner.

Librarian reappeared with a book.

[Firebug]. Who needed to read class descriptions? Not me! I bounced up to the check-out desk, eager waiting to check the book out. Librarian gave me a long, flat look.

"Read the description at least!" She said.

"But I know I’ll like it. You picked it out." I protested.

I got a Look back. "Fine, fine." I held my hands – one still clutching [Firebug] like a holy relic – up in surrender.

[Firebug - Fire] – You’ve burned with passion and desire to become a mage, to cast spells and use skills. You’ve demonstrated an affinity for fire, using it, jumping into it, bathing in it. We don’t recommend you keep doing the last one. Now master it. +2 Free Stat, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control per level.

Much stronger than when I’d been offered [Apprentice Mage] all those years ago – I guess that’s why it was [Firebug] and not [Apprentice Mage]. Having a bunch of extra stats and accomplishments probably went a long way towards having better initial classes.

I went back to Librarian at the checkout desk, who finally let me check the book out. I gave her a hug, and when I pulled back from it, I noticed something new, something I should’ve seen ages ago.

"Your eyes…" I trailed off. It was like looking into a galaxy, a hundred thousand pinpricks of light on the light blue field of her eyes. It was a thing of beauty. I got a huge grin back.

"My eyes? Your eyes! Like Artemis is bottled lightning, we’re now going to reflect the entire starry night. It marks us as being Celestial-aligned."

That was so cool. I couldn’t wait to show Artemis.

"By the way, when you wake up," She started, then leaned towards me, whispering mischief. An evil grin cracked my face.

"Yessssss. Absolutely." I said.

"Hope to see you soon!" I said, waving my newest class book at her.

"I hope so too." She said, as the world changed around me.

I came back to the real world, making sure to keep my eyes tightly closed, as I parsed through the dozens of notifications. They’d notice soon enough that I was back, and I only had so much time to do this. Right, first things first, notifications.

They were easy enough to see, even with my eyes closed. I have no idea how that worked.

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve upgraded your first class – [Constellation of the Healer] - Celestial]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve upgraded your second class – [Firebug] - Fire]

[*ding!* Your skills [Light Affinity] and [Dark Affinity] have merged into [Celestial Affinity] – 128]

[Celestial Affinity] The astral painting above speaks to you, and with this skill, you can listen all the more. Increased efficiency per level when using Celestial spells.

[*ding!* Your skill [Calming Aura] has partially merged with [Healing Aura] to make [Warmth of the Sun] – 105]

[Warmth of the Sun] You’re warm like the sun, and all who are near you feel the calm, warm, healing embrace. Increased control, radius, and strength per level.

[*ding!* Your skill [Calming Aura] has partially merged with [Centered Mind] and [Deaden Pain] to make [Center of the Galaxy] – 101]

[Center of the Galaxy] You believe that everything in the galaxy revolves around you. Only something of galaxy-shaking proportions can break your focus and resolve now. Increased mental stability, ability to ignore pain and other emotions per level.

[*ding!* Your skills [Detailed Restoration], [Attack Bacteria], [Parasitic Remover], [Cure Toxin], and [Tissue Removal] have merged into [Phases of the Moon] – 68]

[Phases of the Moon] As the moon waxes and wanes, so can you have your patient’s bodies wane out problems and imperfections, and wax back to full health. Increased efficiency per level.

[*ding!* Your skill [Flashlight] has partially merged with [Privacy] to make [Veil of the Aurora] - 64]

[Veil of the Aurora] As the Aurora hides the night sky, and shows the protection we have, so will the Veil hide and protect you and your patients. Increased protection, efficiency, and control per level.

[*ding!* Would you like to evolve your skill [Flashlight] into [Eyes of the Milky Way] - 88? Y/N]

[Eyes of the Milky Way] Your eyes sparkle like the jug of milk tipped over by the gods, crossing the sky. With this skill, you can see the world clearly when the stars are shining. Increased vision clarity and range per level.

[*ding!* Your skill [Deaden Pain] has evolved into [Vastness of the Stars] - 70]

[Vastness of the Stars] We are all just stardust, and it can make our pain seem so small, so insignificant, in comparison. Fades pain and mental anguish away. Increased potency and control per level.

[*Error* You have lost the skills [Greater Invigorate] and [Surgeon’s Scalpel].]

[*ding!* Congratulations! You’ve upgraded your second class – [Firebug] - Fire]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fire Affinity]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fire Resistance]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fire Conjuration]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Flame Manipulation]!]

That was a ton to read and process. For some reason, losing the two skills didn’t cause the usual pain and nausea – a freebie from the System for losing them to an upgrade, and not my own choice.

Losing [Greater Invigorate] hurt, but [Surgeon’s Scalpel] not so much. I just wasn’t using it nearly as much as I’d been using [Greater Invigorate], but night watch would suck a lot more without it. And waking up in the morning. And… ok, this might be a bit of a pain.

[Flashlight]’s upgrade was next to look at. Everything else had been a straight-up replacement, but this was giving me a choice, offering me options. I looked at it carefully. It seemed to be a perception skill, that let me see in the dark.

No, not in the dark. It let me see when "The stars were shining." My immediate guess would be outside, at night, when I could see a star, or the stars could see me. Interesting. I could see why it was an optional upgrade, instead of "here you go." No more indoor flashlights. No more light for others to see by. In exchange, I’d be able to see others, without them seeing me.

Also, I had some experience from my [Student] class evolving into [Shadow Healer] – losing my Light affinity meant [Flashlight] would be much weaker, while my new Celestial-affinity would boost [Eyes].

I decided to take it.

"Elaine? Elaine, are you back?" Artemis asked. Eyes still closed – I didn’t want to give up the game – I quickly processed through the rest of my skills.

I’d been lying down the entire time, and I somehow sensed people crowding around me, wondering why I hadn’t moved yet, in spite of my class change being done. This was it. This was the moment I was waiting for.

I lifted my hand up, a single finger pointing to the sky, and focused on my new Fire skills. Thank goodness skills came with some basic knowledge of how to use and activate them, and with that, I conjured up a small flame onto the tip of my finger.

The reaction was priceless.

"Why do you have fire!?!?!"

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 14]

[Mana: 2500/2500]

[Mana Regen: 5069]

Stats

[Free Stats: 0]

[Strength: 19]

[Dexterity: 23]

[Vitality: 41]

[Speed: 32]

[Mana: 250]

[Mana Regeneration: 700]

[Magic Power: 250]

[Magic Control: 775]

[Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]

[Celestial Affinity: 128]

[Warmth of the Sun: 105]

[Medicine: 111]

[Center of the Galaxy: 101]

[Phases of the Moon: 68]

[Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]

[Veil of the Aurora: 64]

[Vastness of the Stars: 70]

[Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 8]]

[Fire Affinity: 1]

[Fire Resistance: 1]

[Fire Conjuration: 1]

[Fire Manipulation: 1]

[Class 3: Locked]

General Skills

[Identify: 71]

[Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]

[Pretty: 96]

[Vigilant: 104]

[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]

[Ranger's Lore: 1]

[Running: 70]

[Learning: 100]