Vina put her lantern back into her backpack. She knew it wouldn’t respond. “It’s just a lantern.” she said to no one. As she headed back to Prosit, she grew more excited with each step. She had hoped that by completing this bounty and declining the reward, she would get enough experience to gain level five and her first class.

However, when she arrived at the town, she was met with six guards at the gate. Trip and Marit were in attendance as well and Vina greeted them warmly. Trip cleared his throat, “I’m sorry Vina, but we’ve been asked to take you into the town hall.”

Vina was confused, “What’s the problem?”

“They didn’t tell me the exact reason. I suspect you could guess though.” Trip said.

Vina shook her head, “I really don’t have any ideas why.”

“Please follow us, Vina. We don’t want to have to use force.” Trip said, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

“Of course. I was headed there anyway.” Vina said, trying to defuse the tension.

Vina followed as much as was escorted into the town by four of the guards, including Trip and Marit. It was a quiet and uncomfortable walk. She grew more uncomfortable and slightly scared as they approached the Town Hall building. Once inside, she was escorted into a room with two chairs and a table between them. Vina was asked to sit and wait, but the four guards remained in the room with her.

She did not wait long before a woman she had never met walked into the room with two additional guards. “They’re scared of me.” Vina realized.

The woman who entered was roughly Vina’s height with brown hair cut to just below her ears. She wore a simple short sleeved shirt and formal pants. Everything about her posture read confidence and self assurance. “Are you the new adventurer in our town? Vina is it?” said the woman.

“Yes I am Vina. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you. May I ask your name?” Vina said, shifting in her seat.

The woman sat down, her hands gripped the arms of the chair. “I am Tressi, the mayor of this town. I am aware you have cleared several bounties from our bounty board and for that I am appreciative. However, it has come to my attention that you have been exhibiting some strange behavior lately.” Tressi brought out a piece of paper from the air and Vina couldn’t suppress a gasp when she did it. Tressi raised an eyebrow at her reaction. “My sub-class is Mayor. It is an administrative class. I am not here to hurt you. The guards are the ones with combat classes.”

Tressi looked down at the paper she procured, “It says here on the day of your arrival, you had a red glowing object in your hand. The guards at the door felt something was off, but let you enter anyway.” She moved her finger down, “You broke into a local business to procure weapons and armor. Yes you used those weapons to save one of my citizens and complete a bounty. The blacksmith mentioned here has dropped all charges.” Tressi moved a finger again, “Upon completing that bounty, our town recovered the Pilidar bodies. We discovered all but one were drained completely of their blood.”

The mayor took a deep breath and continued, “Today you delivered three bandits alive and one dead to the guard gate in an attempt to complete another bounty. The dead bandit was drained of his blood as well. The bandit leader told us about a powered item. A red glowing lantern.”

She brought her hand back into the air again and procured a piece of wood. She laid it down on the table and Vina saw the rune word she had created. It read Seal. “And then there is this. A red glowing rune”, Tressi continued. “Vina, are you a threat to my town?”

Vina was confused for a moment before realizing Tressi must have removed that from her room at the inn. “No ma’am. I am just trying to gain some levels and improve my skills. I am planning to leave Prosit soon.”

Tressi nodded contemplatively, “I hear you have been calling yourself an adventurer. Do you have an adventuring license?”

Vina shook her head slowly. She did not know she needed a license to do work off the bounty board.

Tressi sighed, “How am I to determine who you are or what your purpose is without some form of identification?”

Vina shrugged, “I don’t really know. I am new here. I arrived in the wilderness far from here and have been trying to figure out who I am and where I am going ever since arriving.”

“Can you explain what we are seeing with these bodies drained of blood?” Tressi pressed.

Vina answered hesitantly, “I don’t like telling people, but I have a blood skill.”

Tressi took a sharp inhale of breath, “I suspected as much. May I see this lantern that has my guards so startled?”

The guards around the room shifted weight from one foot to another. One actually started to speak and Tressi silenced him with a look. “I can show you it. But it seems to make people uncomfortable. I personally like the red runes.” Vina said, drawing out the lantern from her backpack.

Tressi looked at her backpack in surprise, but was soon distracted by the lantern. The lantern was turned off but the runes still glowed red. She sat there captivated for a moment before examining the item. “A lantern of shadow dispersion. I see you are no friend of the darkness at least. This is a rare powered item. It is strange that you powered it with blood. Why?”

Vina’s face turned slightly red as she said, “I didn’t know of any other way. I sort of lucked into it.”

Examining Vina's face, Tressi said, “I don’t know if I would call it luck. Vina, blood skills are a little off the beaten trail compared to traditional skills. There are worse skills, but blood manipulation has strong potential for horrible consequences.”

Vina grew tense. She was not sure she agreed with Tressi. Sure, the runes had also scared her at first and had even hurt her. Now, she had bonded with the cute glowing runes and had developed healthy boundaries. It couldn’t hurt her anymore. “Unfortunately, I have a personal quest involved with learning blood runes further.” Vina responded.

Tressi leaned back into her chair and considered for a couple minutes. “Vina, I cannot forbid you from learning more about blood runes. I do not believe you have any hostile intent for Prosit. However, I have a responsibility to the safety and peace of this town. Your use of blood skills and powers here has stirred up my people. Many of them are uneasy with you staying with us. I am concerned if you remain here much longer, the rumors and gossip may catch up to you. It may become less safe for you to stay.”

Tressi met Vina's gaze, “I know you’ll defend yourself if anyone tries anything with you. My people may not be able to restrain themselves if they feel a threat exists within the town. Unfortunately to keep the peace, I need to ask you to leave.”

Vina looked at Tressi in surprise, but on second thought she understood where Tressi was coming from. She had noticed the stares, glares, and gossiping. She did not know it had increased her risk of violence, however. Part of her appreciated Tressi’s proactiveness and analysis of the situation. Vina hung her head slightly, “That is sad news. I did not know my blood skill had become so obvious. I am sorry for the trouble I have caused. May I complete my bounty before leaving?”

In a change of demeanor, Tressi chuckled, “You may not have an adventuring license, but you certainly sound like one of them. Yes you may.”

Vina had a window popup telling her the bounty was completed and if she wanted to accept the 500 Randar reward. Vina declined.

You have gained 1000 experience from completing a bounty. Vina Level Up: You reached level 5 and have 5 more attribute points to allocate. You have gained 10 health and 5 stamina. Select your Class

Despite the environment and the situation, Vina grinned and closed all of her windows. She addressed Tressi once again, “Thank you. I also have discovered a note from the bandits with their orders.” Vina pulled the orders from her backpack and gave it to Tressi.

Tressi looked at Vina in surprise, “The bandit leader has not shared his plans with us yet. This helps us immensely.”

Vina reached into her backpack a couple more times and heaped four hundred and fifty Randar coins on the table, “Can you be sure Trina’s Refuge receives this donation?”

The room was quiet for a moment before Tressi, still staring at the money, finally said, “Are you a follower of Trina’s?”

Vina thought for a second before saying, “I’m not really sure yet.”

Tressi thought for a couple more moments before saying, “Vina I can tell you are a very good person. It is unfortunate the others around you couldn’t see past your blood skills.” Tressi looked at the guards in the room with a certain amount of disappointment. “Consider your exile temporary. Please come back to us when you have gained better control of your blood skills and no longer scare people. I appreciate your contributions to our town, and I’ll ensure the refuge receives your donation. It was nice meeting you, Vina.”

~~~

Vina was immediately and unceremoniously escorted out of town. The guards remained at the gate until Vina was far from sight. Vina herself was unsure what to do. She had not received a map, she had not unlocked Priya’s sealed note. She had even forgotten to ask for the nearest town. They hadn’t even let her pick up some supplies. Thankfully she had picked up a brand sleeping mat and blanket in the days she had been in town. She would sleep comfortably even if she had to do so in the wilderness again.

Her heart was aching quite a bit. It hurt to be kicked out of town. She had loved the town of Prosit and had met several amazing people. It pained her to not be able to say goodbye to Jan and Pawld. She cringed when realized she still had a debt owed to the innkeeper and his wife too. Vina almost turned back to give her money to the guards, but she knew it would not be met with kindness. The guards were clearly scared of her.

She had this happen before though, back on earth. She had been kicked out of restaurants and other buildings all the time just because she was homeless. She was accused of loitering when she was just trying to exist. She had been refused service because of holes in her clothing. She may have been used to this, but it never stopped hurting.

Taking a steadying breath, Vina continued following the road out of town, not really sure where she was going. Tressi had been kind enough to ask her which gate she wanted to leave from and Vina had chosen the opposite one she had arrived from. Tressi probably thought Vina knew where she was going.

In frustration at her circumstances, she brought out her lantern and admonished it. “You didn’t have to drain that bandit of his blood. How did you even do that? I had saved him, you know. This is all your fault.” But Vina knew that wasn’t true. Jan had warned her to not be so open with her blood skills, and she had not taken him seriously. She would not make the same mistake again. Vina placed the lantern back into her backpack despite its presence being reassuring. Without it though, she felt even more alone.

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Vina tried to distract herself. She lived in a magical world filled with amazing things. She opened her character sheet and examined her attributes.

Name

Vina

Level

5

Health

110

Stamina

60

Experience

310/6000

Attributes

Points

Description

Strength

12

You can lift 55% of your body weight and weapons do 4% more damage

Endurance

14

Your stamina is increased by 20, and your stamina recovery is increased to 1.20 per minute.

Dexterity

16

Your body is 6% more likely to do exactly what you intend, you are 24% more likely to hit your target

Agility

15

Your movement is 15% faster, you are 20% more elusive, you can react 10% sooner.

Vitality

12

Your health is increased by 20, you clear poisons 10% faster, you are 6% more resistant to disease

Charisma

10

People like you 0% more and you are 0% more likely to persuade someone

Mastery

16

You learn skills 24% faster. You are 6% more likely to learn a skill on your first try.

Divinity

0

Locked

Points Remaining

6

Vina was excited to see those six attribute points and was proud of herself for managing to save one additional attribute point from her last level up. She didn’t want to spend her attribute points just yet though. She sat down in the middle of the path and tried to review her class notification.

Classes: You will now choose a class. Class options offered are based on the two highest skills at the time of leveling up. Highest leveled skills: Blood Runes: 6 - Selected Throwing: 5 Spears: 5 Forage: 5 Stealth: 5

Multiple skills are tied for second place. You will have four class options. Option 1: Blood Reaver Option 2: Blood Forager Option 3: Blood Weaver Option 4: Blood Slayer

Vina was paralyzed by what she saw. Her only class options were blood based. “Seriously Trina?!” Vina screamed at the sky. It seemed she was destined to be disliked in this world. With her blood lantern, blood runes, and blood class, there was no way anyone would feel comfortable around her. With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart, Vina read her options.

Class Option #1: Blood Reaver

The Blood Reaver class is a rare class. Blood reavers are a variant of the Warrior class. They are warriors of great power, wielding massive weapons capable of cutting deeply. This class most commonly uses heavy armor, so they can wade into the action, taking down their foes as quickly as possible. Blood reavers are able to absorb the blood of their enemies. Depending on their specialization, blood reavers can use their enemy's blood in unexpected ways. Despite the name, blood reavers are neither good nor bad and can act in a manner consistent with their own morals. When leveling up, Blood Reavers receive 2 strength, 1 vitality, and 4 points to use as they wish.

Class Option #2: Blood Forager

The Blood Forager class is a rare class. Blood foragers are a non combat class. They explore the world, gathering the blood of animals, plants, and living creatures. Obtaining these blood samples is impossible for any class other than the blood forager. Blood foragers can use their collected blood to create potions or magical enhancements, depending on their specialization. When leveling up, Blood Foragers receive 1 dexterity, 2 vitality, 1 mastery, and 3 points to use as they wish.

Option #3 Blood Weaver

The Blood Weaver is a rare class. Blood weavers exist in a balance between good and evil. They are agile fighters, wearing light armor and wielding light to medium weapons. Blood weavers are said to be graceful fighters, capable of rapid and difficult to predict movement. Both elegant and fearsome, blood weavers are capable of causing additional bleeding against those who would attack them. Blood weavers hold within themselves a reservoir of additional blood that they can access when needed. Blood weavers may mark skills as specialized, gaining additional benefits. When leveling up, Blood weaver receive 2 agility, 1 dexterity, 1 mastery, and 3 points to use as they wish.

Option #4: Blood Slayer

The Blood Slayer class is a rare class. Blood slayers are a variant of the assassin class. Blood slayers stalk their prey from the shadows, attacking only when the time is right. Due to their nature, Blood slayers wear only light armor and wield light weapons. They collect the blood of their enemies and combine it with their own to create poisonous mixtures. These mixtures may be applied to their weapons for devastation effects. Depending on their specialization, the blood slayer is restricted to certain mixtures. When leveling up, Blood Slayers receive 1 agility, 2 dexterity, 1 vitality, and 3 points to use as they wish.

Vina could roughly see how her class options mapped to her level 5 skills. Spears appeared to be connected to the reaver class. Blood slayer must have been derived from her stealth skill. Forager was very clear. By process of elimination, she guessed Blood weaver and throwing probably went together.

She immediately dismissed the Blood Forager class. This world was hostile and taking a non-combat blood class was likely a death sentence. Vina considered the Blood Slayer, but she didn’t feel taking an assassination class made much sense to her. She was not some hired mercenary taking kill contracts. Who would she even assassinate? That left the Reaver and Weaver classes for Vina to consider.

Vina was very much connected to her spear. She enjoyed the security it provided. It had saved her life before and likely would again. It seemed Reaver was a logical choice for her if she wished to continue using her spear. However, she was unsure how she felt about absorbing blood and wearing heavy armor though. She was not too eager to… she read the description again out loud, “Wade into the action, taking down my foes as quickly as possible.” The more she read this class description, the more it didn’t seem right to her.

With only Blood Weaver left on the list, Vina considered how well it fit. Her agility, dexterity, and mastery were all already high. Between her bow and her knives, she already used light weapons. Vina did wonder if the spear counted as a light weapon. “Could any weapon be considered light if your strength is high enough?” She wondered to herself. Vina was really drawn to the bonus of the blood weaver though. It could specialize skills. Between Priya’s warnings to not bond with Aspects and Jan’s proof that she couldn’t bond with them, Vina felt she could only rely on her skills for survival.

With great hesitance, Vina selected the Blood Weaver class.

You have selected the class: Blood Weaver Blood Weaver Ability Tree Unlocked. You have gained one more class ability point to use.

New Skill Learned: Mobility. Mobility is an active skill. Mobility does not gain levels. New Skill Learned: Listen. Listen is an active skill. You hear what others may not. Listen does not gain levels. New Skill Learned: Ambidexterity. Progress to next skill level 0%. New Class Passive Ability: Blood Lake. Blood lake is a passive ability that allows for 25% greater storage of your blood. Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 24/25

She was surprised she learned new skills. That was not in the description she was provided. Oddly enough though, she had not learned a skill called weaving. Vina wondered if such a skill existed and what benefits it would give. Vina opened her class ability tree next and saw a bunch of shadowy nodes which she couldn’t read at all. However, the top node was lit up. “Of course it is colored red!” she laughed once again to herself. As it was her only available class ability, she read it.

Class ability: Scarlet Dance is an active class ability. You may activate this ability to cause 5% additional bleeding damage with bladed weapons. It is 5% more difficult to stop wounds from bleeding when this ability is active. This is a stacking effect on each hit. Maximum stacks: 10. When you are standing in blood, your stamina recovers 10% faster.

Vina blinked and then laughed out loud. She couldn’t help but find the thought of dancing being a class ability . The fantasy of this world was overwhelming her and she needed a laugh to drain her stress. She even brought out her lantern and they laughed together for a long time. Vina wiped the tears from her eyes as she selected the class ability. The tier below this lit up, but she could still not read what they said yet. “I probably need another class ability point”, she said.

Vina turned to the lantern. “I'm sorry I put you into the backpack. I was very upset with you, but it was rude of me. You’ll hang on my hip from now on. People will just have to accept us for who we are.” The lantern, of course, didn’t respond.

Now that she had chosen her class, Vina decided to allocate her attributes. Her class was clearly agility focused, so Vina placed two points into agility, two points into her vitality, one point into strength.

Agility: 17 Your movement is 21% faster, you are 28% more elusive, you can react 14% sooner. Vitality: 14 Your health is increased by 40, you clear poisons 20% faster, you are 12% more resistant to disease Strength: 13 You can lift 60% of your body weight and weapons do 6% more damage

Vina thought hard about where to put her last point. After a lot of consideration, she finally decided. She took a deep sigh and made her final selection.

Charisma: 11 People like you 5% more and you are 3% more likely to persuade someone.