Esperanza breathed a sigh of relief as she opened the first hideout – it was behind a cleverly hidden trapdoor that the invaders had yet to find, and that she only found thanks to Dali’s directions – and saw a quartet of young, cowering children within. They were alive and in good health, just scared, as the tears on their innocent eyes displayed. She also understood why the villagers had not attempted to evacuate these children with the rest, as they were too young to be able to run quickly with the rest.
Your companions have defeated [Champion of Ner’vhok: Sübügätäi Lvl20/Örlög Baghatur Lvl2]
You cannot receive experience twice from a chosen of the gods until they have leveled up!
No experience is received.
Another notification barged into her sight as she was trying to open the second hideout – this one had its entrance so well-secured that even she struggled to open it from the outside – showing just how stubborn the [Champion] had been, though at this point all that stubbornness only resulted in some exercise for her dogs, so she ignored it with a shake of her head.
She finally managed to pry open the hidden trapdoor by literally tearing it off its hinges, which elicited squeals and cries of fear from the children inside, which only subsided after they got a good look at her visage in the dim lighting of the house. There were another six children in that hideout, three were mere toddlers while the oldest one couldn’t have been more than six years of age or so.
That the oldest boy? – girl? The child was one from the same tribe as Avalanusi and Esperanza still had difficulty differentiating between the males and females of that tribe – stood protectively over the rest made her smile sadly, as she gently rubbed the brave child’s head with one hand and brought them into a warm hug. It was only at that point that the child broke down in tears.
“There, there… you did good… what’s your name?” asked Esperanza as she carefully cradled the child while helping usher the other younger ones out of the hideout to join the four already following her. The younger children were clearly somewhat afraid of her – it was usually the older ones who came to play at her place – but they followed her lead in the end.
“I- Ilavakide,” said the young child, identifying herself as a girl, if Esperanza remembered the way their tribe named their children right.
“Okay, then, Ilava. I want you to lead the others and follow behind me, can you do that?” she asked once more, in a calming voice. Esperanza has taken care to take a route where the village square – and the pile of the corpses which most certainly included the parents of these children – were covered from sight by other buildings in the way. “We still have a few more friends to find.”
“O-okay,” said the young girl as she nodded and wiped her tears off with a fur-covered arm.
“Muy bien,” replied Esperanza with another smile – she hoped it was a reassuring one, as she at least tried to give one such, though it was hard to tell given her current body – to calm the kid. The way the child seemed to have buckled up and stood taller as she went over to the rest of the gaggle of children instead of crying seemed to indicate that her effort worked to an extent.
She brought them behind her, firmly warning them to keep their eyes on her to prevent them from seeing the pile of corpses, and tried to keep them occupied. It would have been easier with Dali and Gordy around, but she had them camp out the place where the [Champion] would [Respawn] to if he proved that stubborn, and couldn’t afford to have them leave just yet.
Fortunately the third hideout was not far from the second one. It was underneath one of the raised houses, carefully hidden in the ground beneath. Esperanza had to click her tongue in some amazement at the way the trapdoor’s outer side seemed to have merged with the ground around it. Probably some sort of illusionary enchantment or skill at work.
There were three more children inside there, who looked to be siblings, the oldest looking slightly older than Ilava by a year or two, though saddled with an infant and a young toddler beside him. He took Esperanza’s hand as she helped him out of the hideout – little more than a pit in the ground that was isolated and hidden from the outside while still allowing air to circulate – and brought him and his siblings to the rest of the kids.
With no other hideouts reported by Dali – and a rough headcount in her head also confirming that just about everyone had been accounted for, from the number of souls she received off the pile – Esperanza brought the gaggle of children towards the outskirts of the village, the way she came in. It had already been past the time the [Champion] should have [Respawn]ed on if he remained stubborn, so it appeared that he had let go of the matter at last.
Whistling shrilly, she called for Dali and Gordy to come to her. Both of the dogs reached her within a minute, and she ordered them to guard the children while she left towards the center of the village, where most of the carnage had taken place. She knew that it was probably folly, and she did not have that much free time, but she felt wrong just leaving the bodies of the villagers out in the open after the kindness they showed her.
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Despite how many of the dead invaders’ bodies showed signs of being bitten and munched on, the pile of villager corpses in the square was left unbothered. Her dogs knew well enough to leave them alone, so Esperanza wondered if what she was about to do was sacrilegious or blasphemous to them, shaking her head at the thought.
It was not like she had much in terms of options. Digging a grave for well over a hundred people took far too much time and energy, neither of which she had much to spare at the moment, while leaving them out in the open just felt disrespectful and wrong to her. As such, she made up her mind, distended and flattened her body until she was wide enough to cover the whole pile, then went to work.
She started to stoically [Consume] one body after another until there was none left in the pile.
Despite feeling rather bloated after she was done – it had been over a hundred bodies after all – she also took the time to [Consume] the remnants of her enemies as well. It was a chance for her to further level the skill, and besides, that way she left less clues about what happened. All everyone would know would be what the [Champion] reported, and he only caught the tail end of her actions.
Once the village was cleaned and emptied of any bodies – be it villager or invader – Esperanza finally turned to leave and headed to where she left the children with Dali and Gordy.
Since the trip they took from the village to where Dali and Gordy had the rest of the survivors hide was fortunately uneventful, Esperanza also took a moment to take a glance at her status screen, distributing her free points while she was at it.
Name : Esperanza Marisol de Gonzalez Cabrera
Race : Human (?)
Age : 18
Class : [Spark of Hope Lvl20]/[Emissary of the Forgotten Lvl10]/???/???/???
Stats :
Free Major Stat Points: 0
* Body : 50
- Strength : 50
- Dexterity : 50
- Constitution : 50
* Mind : 48.66
- Intelligence : 41
- Perception : 45
- Wisdom : 60
* Soul : 68.66
- Willpower : 40
- Intuition : 40
- Sanity : -126
Skills:
Class 1: [Spark of Hope]
* Far Down the Deep End :EX
* Flesh is but a Vessel: Lvl 5
* A Mask to Don: Lvl 1
* Consume: Lvl 8
* Gauze of Oblivion: Lvl 6
Class 2: [Emissary of the Forgotten]
* Shepherd of the Lost: Lvl 3
* Soul Storage: Lvl 3
* Soul Bolt: Lvl 4
* ???
* ???
General Skills:
* Respawn: EX
* A Glimpse of Understanding: Lvl 7
* Language Understanding: Lvl 5
* Gaze Unto the Abyss: EX
* Aura Mastery: Lvl 1
* Tracking: Lvl 6
* Quick Learner: Lvl 4
* Butchering: Lvl 4
* Poison Resistance: Lvl 2
* ???
She focused the lion’s share of her free points on her Body stat this time, the difficulty in dealing with a Body-focused [Champion] despite his lower level still fresh in her mind. To be fair the great discrepancy in experience likely also played a great role, but that part, Esperanza couldn’t exactly fix in a hurry. Adding more points to her Body stat was instant and would have helped out, on the other hand.
Two of her skills also evolved, so she took a glance at them to see what benefits the evolution gave.
[Aura Mastery]
Epic Skill
Level 1
Grants the user full control over their aura. Aura was just another part of their body to them, an extension, to be molded and shaped as per one’s will. Ease of use increases with skill level.
[Aura Mastery] was pretty much as she expected, a straight, plain upgrade of [Aura Control], picking up where the other skill capped out and continuing the growth. She did notice the improvement in the ease with which she could “mold” her aura to her will, though she had to look for it to notice, as it was not exactly a drastic difference in performance.
[A Mask to Don]
Unique Skill
Level 1
Masks were but guises to be used as one needed, to be switched out as one desired, and let the world believe what it wished to believe.
You have gained ever greater control of the mask with which you portray yourself to the world at large, its multiple sides interchangeable at will. Carve it into your heart, young one, that everyone presents a mask of their own to face the world with. You have more choices than they do. Level 1: Capable of assuming a passable guise of any configuration desired. No time limit. Control increases with skill level.
Similarly, [A Mask to Don] was a direct upgrade to her previous [Shifting Guise]. Esperanza experimented a bit with it while they traversed the jungle, since she was at the front and none of the children would get a good look at her face anyway. Before long, she quickly found that the skill’s evolution had given it a qualitative upgrade to the level of detail that it could mimic.
She found herself staring at a face that had a rather uncanny resemblance to her own – at least as she remembered it – using one of her other eyes, and discovered that she could also hide most of the remaining eyes and maws to the point that they were practically invisible unless closely inspected, or if she opened them. Her body also managed to morph into a more feminine – if featureless – shape compared to the previous generally humanoid form.
And probably what pleased Esperanza the most was how she managed to simulate the appearance of hair by manipulating her body’s amorphous matter into many thin tentacles that grew out from her scalp. It would not pass muster under a closer inspection, but it was better than being bald.
Emboldened by her “new” look, she wrapped herself once more in the makeshift clothes she had used previously, and peered at herself once more using an eye at the back of her palm, held at arm’s length. Other than the odd complexion of her skin – even with her best attempts the best result she managed was a rather pale, off-purplish hue – and the way that her eyes had red irises on black sclera, she could probably have passed for a normal human, as long as the observer didn't look too close.
Some clothes that covered more of her like a hooded cloak would likely help with that.