Chapter 3 - Human contact

I awoke in a hut, not that I knew that. I couldn’t see. My eyes were covered with cloth. Before I could get that off though I was interrupted by a voice to my right: “You fucking Idiot, how are you alive?” Which was followed by someone hugging me from the same side. Judging by the Voice I had a suspicion “Valeria?”

“Yes, you dolt. You fell of that tree while trying to get a better look at my behind” she said accusingly

“First of: The branch broke, I didn’t slip like some Idiot”.

“Hmm. And why were you on that branch in the first place?” she asked.

I looked down …. well I moved my head downwards and replied “I thought maybe I could see what you were investigating”

She added: “Like an …”

“Yes, like an idiot. There I said it. Happy?”

With some seriousness she said “No, I am pretty fucking far from happy. But I am marginally more amenable now that you admitted your mistake. The next part is difficult though…. I am sorry. I let you down. You were under my care and I left you alone. That is not something easily forgiven which is why I offer you this: I can fix the damage you have done to yourself. The Eyes, the leg. Whatever that green gunk was. But you may not speak to anyone about this. If people ask you, then you were just beaten up and malnourished when I found you. Understand? ” I accepted of course. She then did some weird chanting in some foreign language and I could feel something affecting the mana in my body. “Is that you, Valeria?”

“Wait. You can feel that. How?”

“Can we leave the storytelling for after I can see and walk?”

“Fair enough.”

And so she got to work. It was very strange feeling my mana do stuff without me telling it to. Also through the mana I could feel my calf slowly reform itself. I decided to pay extra attention to that, in case I ever need to regrow muscle again. After some time she seemed finished and told me to remove my bandage. I could see perfectly fine with my eyes. Looking at Valeria I said “Hey, you look a lot more pretty now that I have Eyes.” She gave me a hearty chuckle and answered “Nice try, little boy. But that’s a hard pass.” Welp you miss every shot you don’t take. She was fairly attractive after all. Late 20s, dirty blond hair, about 1,8 metres tall and a typical build for a ranger, athletic and slim.

“So, how can you do magic?” I asked her.

“You know I was going to ask the exact same thing” she replied with a small smile

“Why would you think I know magic?”

“How do you think I found you? That flash of light was seen by everybody in a ten mile radius. Most people think it was some kind of silent lightning, but I know magic when I see it. When I found you, you were unconscious and your eyes were completely burned out.”

“Oh shit. Well, if anyone deserves to know.” So I told my rescuer the story of the last few days.

“[Internal Mana Manipulation] huh? Hadn’t heard of that one before. So your saying that flash was you trying to scare away a wolf? Overkill, dude. But I commend the quick thinking of burning that wolf's throat." She commented on my story.

“Thanks, I guess? So what now?”

“Now? Now you get some rest while I arrange for you to have some sick leave from the [Rangers]. Starting tomorrow I will be teaching you about the stuff you fell into ass backwards”

I took that to mean our conversation was over, so I focused on something different

“Oh, fuck all the way off!” I yelled

“Excuse me?”

“What? No, not you, I just looked at my notifications.”

Congratulations! For having completed your first Patrol with [Rangers] you have gained one level in [Ranger Trainee](lvl 2)

Agility+3=>

16

Constitution+1=>

18

Endurance+2=>

25

Willpower+1=>

17

Free Points +3=>

3

I should not have told her. She has been rolling on the floor, laughing at me for 20 minutes. Everytime she seems to catch herself she looks at me, points at my face and starts up again. It is really frustrating. Although it wouldn’t have stung so bad if I didn’t kind of have a crush on her. Awkward. Very Awkward.

Anyway after about 10 more minutes she finally regains her composure and while wiping away a tear she said: “That was the most I’ve laughed in a decade. Man, I forgot how much those Apprentice type classes suck ass.”

I replied “Yeah, I’m not exactly thrilled either. I’ve spent like 5 days surviving alone in the Forest and I didn’t get didilly fuck. I mean I got more stats out of almost dying than I did out of surviving.”

Instantly her expression fell into a frown “Also kind of a bummer, cause now I remember that I am responsible for all your hardship over the last week. But seriously you should leave that Trainee shit behind. You can always get better classes, if you just follow your own path.” That puzzled me “Aren’t you a [Ranger], also if I just go around without a Class won’t I be defenceless?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

That seemed to cheer her up somehow. With a slight smirk she said “My situation is a bit different. As for your safety, you best be sure I will not let any serious harm come to you for the foreseeable future.”

How was this woman suddenly a guardian angel? I asked her as much whereupon she blushed slightly and waved her hand dismissively. Very much not giving me an answer.

After that she left to get us some lunch, after which she asked while I was still chewing: “May I ask you a personal question?”

“May as well oh great savior.”

“Shut up, first of all! And then tell me what was your childhood perk?”

Ah yes. The child Perk. You get it once you exit childhood based on … well… your childhood mine was [Curious Child]. Yes, they were all named that way.

[Curious Child]

You never could say no to a secret or something hidden. You will not run out of those any time soon.

Valeria nodded and said: “Yes, that’s what I thought. That one is particularly bothersome.”

“How so? I could never quite understand the description.”

She nodded once again “Mhm. The System is seldom less clear than with those perks. There is a culture far away from here where a common insult translates to “May you live in interesting Times” you got that pretty much”. After I stared at her blankly for a full minute she elaborated “Essentially you are drawn to stuff that is “interesting” That is to say you won’t lack opportunity for growth nor for death.” I again stared at her “I still don’t really get it.”

“Look, when we were on patrol there was a chance for you to be assigned to me, there was a chance for us to go in that direction, there was a chance for us to rest in that tree, there was a chance that the branch was going to break in the perfect way to make you fall into that cave. When - let's call it the ‘cosmic gambler’ - when said gambler rolls the dice, then your perk makes him roll with loaded dice instead.” I was speechless and slack jawed at that so she continued: “Everyone with this perk either dies early or becomes very powerful very fast. Actually most do the first, some do the second and a few do both.”

After a minute of digesting that I said: “This whole thing sounds like it is really bad for me.”

“Eh,you should not worry that much. You survived your first ridiculous encounter, so that raises your odds substantially. When I said die early I meant early. Besides you have me in your corner for now, that makes you about a bajillion percent better prepared. For example I can give you great advice like ‘you should get rid of your class’.”

I mulled that over for a while: “So you actually want to do what? Mentor me? To atone for your perceived sin of not babysitting me constantly? Why?”

“Wow, lots of questions. As to the central one: Yes, I think you could use a Mentor, but No, it isn’t because I left you in that tree. I will explain it to you, but not in the village. Tomorrow we go out in the forest. I will explain it there.”

I can’t really explain it, not even with hindsight, but somehow she seemed trustworthy so I just trusted her.

You have chosen to remove your [Rainger Trainee] class. All associated Stats and Perks will be removed

Strength

12

Agility-6=>

10

Constitution-2=>

16

Endurance-4=>

21

Intelligence-1=>

10

Willpower-2=>

15

Wisdom-1=>

12

Charisma-1=>

10

Free Points-3=>

0

Let’s hope this wasn’t a huge mistake

The rest of the day was spent with me eating till I was sick and then falling into a food-coma. Remember that I had been starving for 5 days.

The next morning I was awoken at the crack of dawn by Valeria: “Get up, butter cup! We are moving out in 30 minutes so wash up, get dressed and grab a snack for the road. Your backpack is already packed.” I blearily opened my eyes. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to be awoken in such a manner, however last week put that into perspective. I got ready to move inside 40 minutes, which Valeria was not shy to remind me of. We moved out of the Village before most people were even awake. I made a point to remember the direction we were moving in, North-West.

We travelled for an hour, give or take, until we reached a … well I wouldn’t call it a clearing, but it was mostly free of vegetation. A look from Valeria confirmed my suspicion. “I did this? How?” I asked.

“Light carries energy, the light you made was enough to singe every living thing in the radius. You may notice that you now lack whatever amount of stubble you grew over your week in the forest.” She replied. I couldn’t help but scratch my, now hairless, chin at that. The next few seconds I examined the area in silence when I heard a wheezing sound. Like someone with a lung-disease after a run. When Valeria tried to continue our conversation I held up a finger to stop her, and tried to locate the sound. It is never exactly quiet in a forest, but it was still enough that I was able to locate the sound after a minute or so. It came from a pile of ash, with an awful stench. Carefully I brushed the ash away to be greeted by scared skin. Scared skin that was rising. Whatever was underneath the ash was alive, even if barely. After I freed the face of the animal I recognized it. It was the Wolf. THE Wolf. The one I basically tortured. I turned to Valeria and asked her “Can you heal a Wolf?”

She looked at it with pity and said “It is in extreme pain and almost dead. It would be a greater kindness to end its misery.”

I welled up. This wolf had been an enemy, but this was not how you treat an adversary. It was beaten, but I left it in agony. It wasn’t like it had ever done anything to deserve this. On our first encounter it was hungry and on the second one it was angry. Both understandable emotions for a wolf to have. I can’t really explain why, but I felt a kinship with this creature. Something I had never felt before, not even with any Girlfriend, or my parents. I had to help this creature. I had to.

I almost screamed at Val: “I have put this creature through unimaginable pain. Twice. The least I can do is undo the damage. Please?” I tried to sound as pleadingly as possible. She sighed and responded: “I can’t heal her when she is writhing like that. And we don’t have any sedatives.” I panicked for a second then remembered that I could numb myself. Surely I could do the same for the wolf, which apparently was female, but I didn’t realise that yet, unlike Valeria. I tried to sense the wolf's mana with all my might, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. The guilt over this poor creature's fate started to wash over me, when I had one last Idea. I had sensed Valeria through my mana before, maybe that process could work in reverse?

I grabbed a knife from my Backpack and nicked both my finger and the flank of the wolf. I pushed both wounds together and instructed my blood to flow into her. When my blood made contact with hers I could start to feel the tiniest hint of her mana. It felt very different from mine but still recognizably mana. Now that I knew what to look for, I could feel the energy all through her body. So I took a deep breath and instilled one instruction throughout her. NUMB. I spoke out loud: “She is numb, do it!” and closed my eyes and shut off all external stimuli to concentrate on maintaining the magical effect. I don’t know how long it lasted, but after some time I felt a pat on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Valeria, looking at me with a warm smile. She said: ”It is done. She is all better now.” I let go of my concentrated state. The wolf didn’t look scared anymore. She was in fact looking relatively healthy. Naked, but healthy. While I had the opportunity, and was still connected to her mana, I commanded the hair follicles in her skin to Grow. Valeria let out a chuckle and remarked “That was very nice of you, little gentleman!”. That was the last thing I heard before I fell unconscious. I really have to stop doing that.

Congratulations! For falling unconscious due to overuse of Magic 3 times in a single week, you gained the Perk [Thickheaded]

[Thickheaded]

You really have to stop doing this. Your mind is now more resistant to involuntarily losing consciousness. You can now reach new heights of headache before you pass out. +5 Willpower +2 Intelligence +0 Wisdom

That was just kicking me while I was down.

Valeria’s POV:

He had to get his constant fainting under control, but otherwise the boy was perfect. Internal Mana Manipulation wasn’t all that rare, most mages did that to not be completely useless in a fight, but actually having a specialised skill for it was something new. Sure, the restrictions were severe, but generalists aren’t known to be at the top of their field.

He even understood how to get at another’s mana. Not groundbreaking in and of itself, but ridiculous considering he can’t feel ambient mana. Yes, maybe she had something here. Now she just needed to form him. From a big lump of potential into a true monster.

This assignment just turned from the most boring exile into a very promising resurgence.