Before leaving for another long day of training and skulking about to secure a pittance, Linneaus spent a few minutes speaking with Gwen at the entrance to the girls' room. She had grown a lot over the last year and, after being treated, worked just as hard, if not harder, than the other girls.
Everyone knew how hard Linneaus worked but, being the target of his protective natures, Gwen felt both guilt and gratitude for her older brother's care. Because of this, she had made a habit of giving him a bit of encouragement before he set out for the day.
Today, Gwen handed over a small charm that had been sewn from a few pieces of fabric recycled from old garments. It had an anomalous shape but, according to Gwen, it was supposed to be a cat. Though they were rare, especially in the slums, it was rumored that the cats in the megacity were bearers of great fortune. She hoped the small black charm would increase his fortune as, when she saw him return at the end of the day with cuts and bruises, it always hurt her heart.
Graciously accepting the charm, Linneaus placed it securely within one of his hidden pockets before affectionately ruffling his sister's hair. He promised that he would be more careful in the future but, immediately after leaving the orphanage, Linneaus continued his training with even greater intensity.
At this point, his height had increased to around 130cm and, though he was very skinny, his body had become far more agile than in the past. He struggled to increase his Strength, primarily due to the lack of nutrition, but his other attributes were developing well, sans Intelligence.
Intelligence required serious study and proper education, making it very difficult to increase without diligent efforts and mentorship. Fortunately, Wisdom could be increased by gaining life experience and making good decisions, making it one of the attributes most Stree Urchins had to spare. This was a great boon in some scenarios as, despite his limited Soul Power, Wisdom increased the rate of replenishment while also allowing him to stay focused under duress.
The only attributes Linneaus really had trouble developing, much like everyone else, were his Spirit and Luck. These were both important attributes as Spirit was directly tied to willpower and mental resistance while Luck was rumored to influence your actual fortune in life.
Curiously, though he understood the reasons somewhat, Linneaus had no trouble raising one of the other difficult to obtain attributes, Charisma. This was an attribute many wanted, as it was associated with skills like [Bartering] and [Leadership]. At the same time, it apparently had an influence on how other people saw you, increasing their favorability.
Due to his uncommon appearance, complete with fair skin, light-blue hair, and golden eyes, he was able to passively increase his Charisma, despite the fact he generally kept to himself. There was even a chance that, once he hit puberty, the attribute would increase considerably, something that both excited and troubled him. After all, who didn't want to be at least a little popular? The only downside was, at times, he would be stared at with predatory eyes by both men and women alike...
Because of his propensity for running around and skulking through the alleyways, Linneaus had even garnered a reputation for himself. Many thought he was just trying to show off so that he could gain entry into the Tower but, regardless of the truth, some had started to refer to him as 'Little Ghost'. If this name caught on, he might even be able to lose his Street Urchin Title, which could be a good or bad thing depending on the situation.
In Lumen, Titles were one of the most important factors that determined a person's growth, even for those living within the slums. Though Titles like Street Urchin and Gutter Rat had a few downsides to them, they still allowed even young children to survive in the harsh environment of the slums.
Linneaus was hoping that the Little Ghost Title would provide a boost to his Dexterity and Agility or, at the very least, remove the detriment of halving his Free Attributes per level. This would give him more freedom of choice come his tenth birthday. Since there was always a chance he would get a Blessing related to Magic or Martial Skills, he would need the extra attributes to correct the current imbalance in his Status. After all, it would be quite sad if he got a Blessing like [Fire Affinity], only to find he couldn't cast even a simple [Fireball] Spell.
Though there were exceptions like [Enhance], which were common to the point that everyone could use it, many Spells required hundreds of SP just to cast a single time. For offensive spells related to the Elements, the most basic Spell required a total of 200 SP to cast, meaning Lumen was barely at the halfway point. Thus, in order to avoid becoming another one of the horror stories of a person who got a Blessing that contrasted their attributes, Linneaus really wanted to lose his Stree Urchin Title...
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To that end, he was running through the alleyways, vaulting over boxes, ducking under pipes, and cutting into corners by kicking off the adjacent wall to change direction. He wanted to at least get to the point that he could freely use the walls for movement, emulating the ability of some Enforcers to move several kilometers without having to step a single foot on the ground. This would allow him to evade pursuit more easily, especially if he used his small size to his advantage.
Unfortunately, despite the good luck charm his sister had given him, it had been about a week since his last beating so, as Linneaus passed another corner, his [Sense Danger] triggered, albeit too late for him to do anything about it. The moment he felt the urge to evade, a foot was already hitting the bridge of his nose, stopping his forward momentum and causing him to flip backward in an instant.
Staring down at him from above, the Vulna girl named Skaadi spoke in a harsh voice akin to a growl, \"Still trying to escape to the Tower, Little Ghost...?\" Then, without waiting for an answer, she pressed her foot against his abdomen before shifting her weight and causing him to groan out in pain.
Like everyone else, Skaadi thought that Linneaus was trying to earn the right to enter the Tower but, unlike the others, she believed he was just trying to escape her. She had been tempted to kill him a few times at this point, especially after an especially rough night, but always held back in the end. If he had fought back at all, she probably would have gone through with it but, as there was simply no sport in killing someone who didn't fight back, she settled on tormenting him.
As usual, Linneaus did his best to curl up and resist the pain, even allowing Skaadi to use her sharp nails to create a long incision along the back of his forearm. She would also stop after a few minutes before giving him a pat-down and taking any valuables he might have on him. Fortunately, due to the charm being made of simple fabrics, it went unnoticed during her search so Linneaus wouldn't have to explain to his sister what had happened to it...
After the usual thrashing, Skaadi kicked a decent layer of dirt across Linneaus' body before stating in a sly tone, \"You should get used to sleeping in the dirt. Soon, it will become your home...\" With that said, she leaped towards the wall, a pale layer of green light forming around her legs as she quickly joined a group of Enforcers waiting on the roof. They had been jeering at him during the beating but Linneaus paid them no mind as it wasn't the first, or the last, time.
Since the dirt actually did help to keep the cold at bay, Linneaus made no attempts to clean himself as he waited for his health to slowly regenerate. He kept himself calm by reminding himself that he got to see Skaadi's Blessing again, a relatively common Skill amongst the Vulna known as [Child of the Wind]. It provided bonus Agility with each level but the most useful aspect of the Blessing was its ability to passively increase Agility by at least twenty percent, despite costing nothing. If combined with the standard [Enhance], she could probably increase her total Agility by around 30~40%, the only downside being the fact high-speed movements were exhausting.
With knowledge of her Blessing, Linneaus had already been thinking of countermeasures against her inevitable attack. His first plan was to use the Vulna's sharp sense of smell to overwhelm her senses and, if he could catch her by surprise, it wouldn't be too difficult to slip a blade between her ribs. He had never killed anyone before but Linneaus had seen others lose their lives in a similar manner and was confident he would be able to manage.
The most difficult aspect of his plan, or any other plan he might come up with, was catching Skaadi by surprise or reacting to her attack. Since she was much faster than him, it meant there was a good chance she could kill him before he even realized what had happened. With her nails, she didn't even need a weapon to slit his throat in one fell swoop so he was banking on the fact that she, like other Vulna, liked to toy with her prey.
Currently, Linneaus was building an expectation in her mind that he was just a vulnerable child that couldn't offer any resistance against her at all. Unless she was watching the orphanage every night, it would be impossible for her to know exactly when his tenth birthday was so there was a chance he could catch her by surprise. Though this still left the matter of dealing with her cohorts, he was more likely to be recruited than killed, especially if he proved himself useful. After all, there was no sense in fighting over a dead person when you could instead force the other party to work for you.
The only questionable part of his plan was how the leader of the Greyhounds would react but, with how he allowed his men to treat Skaadi, Linneaus doubted he would care all that much. Their bond seemed to be simple acknowledgment of each other as members of the same tribe, not one of kin or genuine respect for each other. If Skaadi proved to be weak enough to die to a child, he probably wouldn't even mark her grave.
After recovering his health, Linneaus wasted no time in continuing his training, acting as if he hadn't just been severely beaten less than an hour ago. Since his experience had gone up by three points, he even had a small smile on his face as it was very difficult to level up within the slums. It generally required that you fight against animals or monsters around the same level for any meaningful gains and, with even rats being killed almost instantly, there weren't many sources for experience in the slums.
Though it was possible to gain quite a bit by killing other people, this wasn't really an option for him so he could only gain small benefits through training and the occasional beating. Even then, he was already at the 'average' level for a ten-year-old so, if he managed to reach Level 6 in the next few months, he would be ahead of the curve. With this in mind, Linneaus put more strength in his legs, enjoying the feeling of his muscles straining, the burning sensation helping to beat back the cold...