Joe saw her confusion and stopped for a moment to explain a second, giving a beat each second for several seconds, “Each of those beats was a single second, OK?”
She looked at Joe before nodding cautiously, “So… this,” she offered, then repeated the beats that Joe had sounded out.
Joe nodded, “Yeah… just about. Maybe a bit faster. But yeah, those are one second.
“So, every second, you are able to intercept two attacks, parry three, and block two. I am uncertain, but I believe this is possible as long as you are not exhausted. Exhaustion would likely reduce or even negate this ability. It’s also only used to protect others of your people.”
She nodded at that, smiling slightly, “This would still be quite useful, especially if we could train our own soldiers to parry and block for each other.”
Joe considered that before laughing a bit, “Yeah, you’re probably right! Anyway, you also gain the ability to protect your people outside your lands but also can do so without offending the local authorities. You also gain half again and double to two of your mind stats, making you smarter and more able to defend your people in debates against others and even any leadership in the area as well.”
Her excitement grew with this latter point and she still nodded excitedly, “Not exciting, but so very useful!”
Joe laughed at that, “You enjoy debate, then?”
Her return smile was genuine, “Always!”
Joe laughed as he nodded, “Interesting.”
She laughed as well and then pressed the last title, “Last one.”
“Hopefully a good one!” Joe replied, then looked at the title.
The title was Wind Princess and the description was quite short, but as he read, his eyebrows climbed into his hairline.
“OK. Wow! This is a good one. It’s Wind Princess. You gain half again to any and all wind magic in everything! So it is half again as big, half again as long, half again as powerful, half again as precise, half again as piercing, half again as long distance, lasts longer by half again… everything is half again better. So, if your wind spell has the power of a dragon, it now has the power of one dragon and a half of another dragon.”
Her eye’s crinkled in joy at hearing this and her smile quickly erupted into laughter, “Ha! I knew that there was something happening with my wind magic.”
“Well, something like that would be pretty shocking and obvious.”
“True.”
They fell silent and Gwenvair stared up at him, the amazing news Joe had offered quickly faded from her mind as the realization that he had been capable of explaining titles settled on her, joy quickly changing to awe laced with fear. Joe noticed the emotions and quickly waved them away, shaking his head and waving his hand.
“Relax. I was just helping and I can only hope it is of use to you.”
Her smile returned, if a bit shaky and Joe hid his own sour discomfort, “Anyway, could we return Kilniara to our conversation?”
Gwenvair glanced at Kilniara in shock then embarrassment as she quickly yanked away her privacy artifact, slipping it into her purse, “Ah! Sorry about that Kilniara! I did not mean to exclude you for so long.”
Kilniara smiled politely but bowed her head slightly, “Noble talk for nobles. I understand.”
Joe reached over and tweaked her ear, “Enough of such talk! It means nothing to me, you know this.”
Kilniara giggled and slapped him softly on the shoulder, “But it is still fun to tease you. What advice did you give her for her status?”
“She just wanted to know of her titles.”
“Ah. That must have been useful.”
“It was. We just showed each other… OH! Shoot! I forgot to show you my status!”
Joe flipped open his status and showed her his main status page.
Status
Blessings
Current Job
Available Jobs
Current Skills
All Skills
Log
Joe McConnell
Status
Physical Resistances
Magical Resistances
HP
174.2 (138)
Physical:
Wind
35.26
SP
251.1 (283)
Piercing
17.5 (48)
Water
34.76
MP
314.9 (100)
Crushing
18.25 (132)
Earth
31.45
Attack
177.2 (181)
Slashing
18.5 (39)
Fire
32.45
Defense
177.2 (158)
Ice
34.51
Magic
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528 (100)
Gravity
31.45
Magic Defense
1043.2 (100)
Magnetic
31.45
Strength
191.2 (148)
Light
31.45
Dexterity
184.7 (112)
Shadow
21.00
Agility
180.7 (133)
Space
31.45
Speed
178.2 (115)
Spirit
49.45
Endurance
193.7 (193)
Mental
43.45
IQ
1633.5 (132)
Sound
31.45
Wisdom
2215.8 (105)
Electricity
31.45
Will
1667.9
Learning
29576.57
Luck
40.63
“Sorry about that. It just slipped my mind,” Joe offered his apologies as he set his status in front of her. He did not focus on her, turning instead to Kilniara since she had been ignored for so long. The two engaged in polite but intimate conversation until Joe pulled back his hand to close his status. He didn’t hear anything so looked to Gwenvair to see if he could close his status. But when he looked, he saw Gwenvair shaking in obvious fear, pale from the roots of her hair all the way down her neck onto what was visible of her upper chest. Joe frowned in concern and leaned forward.
“Hey. Hey! What’s wrong! Are you OK?”
She looked up at him and only shivered in worse fear before speaking quietly, “Ten… Eleven… eleven digits!”
Joe frowned, resting a hand on hers. She fidgeted, then jumped in her seat when his hand rested on hers. Her eyes were now pinned to his and she couldn’t move.
“Hey, hey, hey, hey! Relax. Please. It’s OK.”
She didn’t move and Joe sat, unsure of what to do. He looked at Kilinara who looked back at him, smiling with excitement and pride. Joe felt his heart calm when he saw her own calm demeanor remained and he sought her advice.
“What… do you know what to do? How can we help her?”
Kilniara laughed, giggling, “She’s just terrified and excited at the same time. She doesn’t know if she should pee her pants or try to kiss you.”
Joe frowned, “Be polite.”
Kilniara shrugged and replied, “It’s true. I think she’s seriously considering it.”
When Joe looked back, the pale fear was gone and in its place was a hunger that shocked Joe to his core. He looked back and forth between the two girls, concern now starting to show on his face as he wasn’t sure what to do. He was a bit worried about how Kilniara would react and stared at her with some concern. When Kilniara saw his fearful look tossed her way, she immediately burst into laughter so vibrant and powerful, it echoed in the room and tears began sliding down the outer corners of her eyes.
Kilniara turned from Joe and looked at Gwenvair, “See? He’s still terrified of the simplest things! He’s terrified of me!?”
Joe looked back at Gwenvair and saw her fear and hunger suddenly disappear as she appeared to completely relax in seconds, her fear fading and her hunger solidifying into respectful awe. Joe hid his grimace and smiled instead, turning to Kilniara in gratefulness.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting to be laughed at, but it worked, so thanks, babe.”
Kilniara looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow, “Your welcome, but… babe?”
“Aah. It’s a term of endearment between boyfriends and girlfriends, amongst my people.”
“Babe,” Kilniara tasted it cautiously before continuing, “What does it mean? Isn’t it child?”
“Ah!” Joe exclaimed, backpedalling, “Um… baby does mean a very young child… baby. But it can also be used, baby and babe, as a loving call to a girlfriend. Babe itself, when used for a woman, is to describe a woman of incredible beauty. You’re a babe. It means you are very beautiful. Or you can say something like you are my babe, meaning you are my girlfriend.”
Kilniara smiled brilliantly at that once again, “I like that.”
Joe smiled in relief himself, sighing a bit before turning back to Gwenvair, “You better?”
She smiled genuinely, “I think so. Just… very shocked.”
Joe shrugged, “I think it’s less impressive than you think.”
Gwenvair quickly shook her head before replying, “You…” she trailed off before changing to a seated bow and another message, “Thank you, truly, for everything.”
Joe chuckled and shook his head, “I would prefer if you continued to treat me as you did before. I’m just an equal, nothing more. Just… be … friends.”
Gwenvair looked up at him her eyes searching him carefully before her lips began to curl into a relieved bright smile, “You… are truly … strange,” she offered, obviously still a bit concerned if he were to be irritated.
He smirked brilliantly and leaned back cockily, “Better strange than bored or boring!”
This time, she laughed freely and looked to Kilniara, “He is truly this?”
Kilniara smiled warmly, “He’s exaggerating now to put you at ease, but yes. He is truly this. Quite simple.”
“Hey! Hey! I will have you know I’m an incredibly sophisticated and suave individual! I will not stand for being called simple!”
Gwenvair’s concern quickly washed away, inundated under Kilniara’s bright laughter and acceptance as Joe reinforced his simple character. The three settled into finishing their meal, then ordered seconds and even a dessert afterwards, losing themselves in each other’s company for several more hours, Gwenvair soon as at ease as Kilniara, if a bit more reserved as the new friendships slowly formed. Joe forced himself to be a bit more active in conversation but Kilniara still bore the brunt of the effort as the two girls excitedly lost themselves in conversation both with Joe and without.
Joe laughed and engaged them as he could, once again finding a home he feared would be too alien to accept. Tonight, though, was good. It was very good. And while the two girls chatted with one another, Joe found himself forced to accept that he was once again at a relative dead end. His mind began to wander, lost in trying to consider his options. Well… checked out the nobility line, but it looks like… not gonna happen. Can’t ask the Matriarch… they’re sure they can’t. Can’t do noble myself… Need to be appointed noble… or get the soldier job and the way she described it… gonna be a LONG time going through that… so… a line of more jobs? That’s… going to be very expensive, time wise… if I gotta go through four or five jobs to get to the soldier line… at least three… no, four! Commoner, adventurer, explorer, then scout… all to thirty… then finally… maybe soldier? And then however many jobs there… That’s… hmm… It seemed like his only real option was to see if he could get a priest job that would allow him to change jobs. And… maybe… into the Loki line? If everyone is dead there… no one will see me becoming a priest… nor how fast I’m growing. But! TWO jobs! Two jobs… Joe’s excitement grew. Gotta feed my learning then if I want to get through the combat jobs… they are NOT going to have a lot of learning… no way…
Their meal ended relatively quickly with Gwenvair and Kilniara seeming to be almost close friends. The two offered fond farewells, and Gwenvair did so with him as well, if still a bit stilted. Joe tried to keep his attitude a bit freer to relax her, and he was grateful to see she attempted to offer the same to him. After she left, Kilniara looked up at him with a smile.
“I like her.”
Joe laughed, “Yeah… she’s pretty relaxed for a noble clanner.”
Kilniara smirked and slapped him lightly, “I didn’t mean that.”
Joe shrugged, “Well. She’s pretty cool as well.”
Kilniara nodded, “It didn’t really feel like I was speaking with a clanner.”
“Yup.”
Kilniara smiled, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Kilniara shook her head, staring at him a bit before finally huffing and turning away.
“What?”
Kilniara shook her head, “You… do not realize your place, sometimes.”