Victor has known that Elyssia was like himself and Kayla from day one, after all the chances of her being Blessed like him were exceedingly high according to his own Blessing. Not a certainty but sixty percent was acceptable. After he saw August, whose odds were similar to Elyssia’s, get trashed by the girl he was certain about having found kids with similar destinies.
He always thought that the special skill he asked for from the vendor in his dream was the most overpowered and a key to unlock every door in life. Every little step in life is just a component that influences your chances of reaching a goal. He knows his goal and now sees the correct steps. A jack of all trades. However, he became a bit unsure of his superiority after he saw the latest two arrivals’ performance.
August was fast, ridiculously so, and just like he said the consequences of your actions only matter if they can catch up to you.
Elyssia on the other hand seemed like a walking natural disaster, or something similar along that line. Both of them are still young, the same can be said about him, but their future potential is undeniable.
Even among these monsters, it was obvious that Kayla was the scariest. Right now she can recruit some rabbits or even a wolf as helpers, making friends with them and fighting side by side. Kayla twenty years from now… A flock of Wyverns? A Zaratan? Magma Wyrms?
If Elyssia is the natural disaster then Kayla is the beast tide, and he fears the latter much more.
That was until he witnessed the aftermath of Elyssia’s last accident. The courtyard that weathered many duels and accidents stood scorched, cracked, and devastated. A quite large patch of earth seemingly burned by a girl his age and power.
Please slow down all of you. How can I even keep up with monsters like these three? August seems like a veteran soldier, while Kayla is a natural, she solves everything instinctually and now this…
I should push myself a bit as well. While winning is not a must, being last is out of the question. Time to class up soon.
----------------------------------------
I wake up in a bed, my bed in the… Right, my new room. Did I go to sleep?
I try getting up yet all that earns me is a painful groan and a quick retreat back to lying down.
“Okay, not just sleep. Which means I fucked up, again. But I don’t really remember anything since waking up and going to the planning room.” My mind is fuzzy and trying to recall anything noteworthy really does not come easy. “Oh, the courtyard. Ok, I’m getting somewhere.” It would be a hundred times simpler to ask someone, it’s just without anyone else being in the room that seems unlikely.
Let's check my Status. It’s like a record of important activity be that heroic or stupid.
Name: Elyssia
Age: 9
Mana: 390/390
+60/hour
Racial Trait:
Celestial Elf
Stats:
Free Points: 0
Might: 7
Mana: 39
Speed: 11
Willpower: 60
Endurance: 8
Intelligence: 40
Dexterity: 11
Focus: 60(+3)
General Skills:
Savant lvl 18
Identify lvl 18
Running lvl 9
Dodging lvl 12
Pain Tolerance lvl 8
Premonition lvl 3
Quick Witted lvl 16
Stamina lvl 10
Multitasking lvl 10
I. Class: Inept Magus - Arcane lvl 18
Arcane Affinity lvl 18
Elemental Influence lvl 18
Mana Shield lvl 16
Mana Bolt lvl 16
Mana Blade lvl 15
Mana Spear lvl 18
II. Class: *Locked*
III. Class: *Locked*
“Okay… Something clearly happened. A welcome surprise for sure.” There are clearly some Skill level-ups here almost as numerous as after the outing into the forest last time.
So we can deduce that I did something dangerous, if my waking up in a bed with pretty bad aches wasn’t enough evidence. There are also two more interesting pop-ups.
[Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the Skill [Chaneling lvl 1]. No empty slots available, would you like to replace another skill with it?]
[Y/N ]
[The Skill [Quick Witted] has fulfilled the prerequisites and is able to evolve into Class Skill [Arcane Focus lvl 1]. Would you like the skill to evolve?]
[Y/N]
“I should wait for Martha with this one...” I mumble to myself.
[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the class skill [Arcane Focus lvl 1].]
Yeah, who am I kidding I would’ve taken it anyway. Quick Witted is ok but whatever I’ve done to get this should result in a much better skill so it’s a no-brainer really. There’s only one slight drawback though. I really hope Martha won’t make me max this Skill out as well before classing up. It’s level 1, and one you don’t activate to use, leveling it will be a hassle.
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Arcane Focus: Able to concentrate on your magic even in the midst of life-threatening danger, through pain, through the apocalypse itself. Never lose focus, keep your mind on your magic as that is your greatest weapon wielded by the mind. Increased processing speed and concentration per level.
Does everything that Quick Witted did and more, while freeing up a general skill slot. A damn good deal.
“Woohoo.” I raise my hands victoriously. Yeah, bad idea. Yelps, curses and grumbling follow. “But someone should really come by so I can ask what happened.”
And so I wait, and wait and… fall asleep. Much better than waiting and doing nothing, even if the waiting period was only like ten minutes long.
***
The next time I wake up it's to someone shuffling around in my room, placing a glass of water on my nightstand and touching my face. I remain motionless, eyes closed and pretending.
“You’d make a terrible assassin, little devil. You weren’t even close to faking sleep.” I remain still, maybe she’s bluffing ”Uneven breaths, your eyes moving under their lids and you moved your toe.” Martha teases.
“I didn’t even move!” I snap my eyes open while complaining.
Martha just chuckles. “You really did not, until now that is.”
Damn, I got outwitted. Well played old hag, well played.
“So… what happened this time?” I ask, hoping for some answers. I chew on my lip, praying I haven’t messed up big time and it was just a small mishap.
“You don’t remember it?” Martha asks, baffled. To which I just shake my head. “Did you look at your arm already?”
I take a look at my left arm, or rather where it should be. From the wrist up there’s only a stump, the ghastly remains of what was once my hand.
My lips quiver on their own as I tap where once my left hand used to be. My stomach churns and tears begin to well in my eyes.
I messed up really bad this time huh? It’s really really bad this time. Why always me?
I start sobbing and then my skin comes into focus. It looks absolutely thin and pale like I’ve not seen the sun in years.
“Hey, hey it's okay Eli, it's okay.” Martha comes over and envelops me in an embrace, trying to soothe my panicking heart and mind. “We can grow it back, dear. You can have it back.” She whispers just loud enough for me to hear while stroking my scruffy and patchy hair.
“Nothing’s okay, why can’t I just do things normally?” I shout at her, holding her stronger. “Why do things always go like this? With my birth, with William, in the mess hall, in the forest and now this?” I demand. “Am I cursed? Am I destined to mess up? To be a target?” I pull away and look into her eyes, however blurry my vision is.
I. Want. Answers.
A pained smile reveals itself on her face, and she looks away. Is it that bad? “Deary, there’s no such thing as cursed or destined to fail. Believe me, I’ve seen many things during my life.” Then she sighs. “In my opinion, the events bombarding you with difficulties and pain are only temporary and sooner or later your life will return to balance. You just received something too great so there’s an imbalance in your fate.” Then she pauses. “The other possibility is that the world doesn’t like it. Aelion hates the Blessing as it is given by the Comet, something not from our world.”
“The world is alive?” I ask while blowing my runny nose into her robe.
She flicks my forehead and yanks the clothing away. “I wouldn’t use the word ‘alive’. We call mana Aelion’s breath and all of us are her children and still… There’s certainly a will. The will that keeps the Gods away and a will that raises mana levels whenever the Comet arrives to weaken its influence. The world has its will and even though you are her child it treats you like a sickness, something mildly foreign.”
“Then why am I still alive? I don’t want to suffer all my life.” I look at her with pleading eyes. “Just… end it.” I ask ask tears keep on flowing down my cheeks.
I don’t want to pull anyone down with me. I… I can’t do this forever, I’m tired already.
“No Eli, never.” Martha shakes her head with a sad smile. “Challenges and difficulties will be common in your life but if you persist and believe in yourself nothing can stand in your way. I’ll be with you whenever you falter, whenever it's too heavy. Find something, someone worth staying alive for and cling to it.” She encourages me.
It doesn’t really work. Basically what she says is that these shitty events are only a coincidence and might go away. OR it is what it is, don't give up. That doesn’t make things better, does it now?
I just quietly sob for a few minutes, digesting my bleak future.
Honestly, I have two options. Two real options. If this is my destiny I could try to run from it, try to hide, however, destiny is a hunter always a few steps ahead. It would be nothing else than a slow, drawn-out death sentence. Option number two, be strong enough to crush the odds. This one sounds much more enticing, more perilous and more painful. The results on the other hand might make it worth it.
Drying my tears and easing my breath I pull away again. “Martha, what happened and how long have I slept?”
It's not decided yet whether option two is the truth but I’ll act from here on with that goal in mind.
“Dear, you created magic powerful enough to kill someone your level at least three times over. You did use way more mana than you can endure, which resulted in you being bedridden for six days.” Okay, some good news mixed with the bad ones.
“That sounds like something that would give me the upgrades I got.” I ignore the bad part, there’s nothing I can do with the wasted time, so I just share the changes with Martha.
“Eli, that’s wonderful. I’ve never heard of the Skill Arcane Focus before, although maybe because it's an arcane specialty. Since your firepower and control suffer some setbacks from the element this seems like a decent counterbalance.” She praises.
It makes the sad news seem a little more distant.
“You should not even think about attending afternoon practices and morning training for some time. Not to mention all the lessons you have missed…” Her eyes seem dangerous, I don’t like where this is headed. “To compensate for that and to avoid boredom I brought you some books to read.”
She makes three books appear with her space magic and drops them on my bed.
I need one of those spatial rings no matter how expensive it might be…sooner or later. Probably later.
The books are Guide to the Journey Guide, Atlas of the Green Sea, and A Look into Religion. They don’t seem too intriguing or fun but better than being bored, especially since I know very little about each of the topics.
“Eli, read these thoroughly. These are the cornerstone of any mercenary’s knowledge. As soon as you recover you’ll join the morning training regime and then we’ll push you to class-up. It is unreasonable to expect you to max out the new Skill,” Thank the Gods above. “while those 4 levels in some of your Skills could be achieved in days. It should be quick.”
Probably the first proper good news today… okay second, the Skill evolution was pretty neat.
“The other thing about training is... Since the last incident, you are hereby barred from practicing without supervision. You pushed too far, being oblivious to the dangers and your own limits. This might stunt your growth a tiny bit, although if you’re able to perform something similar to that spear safely you’ll advance without problems.” Sounds like a leash albeit a valid one. I did mess up pretty bad this time.
“Just what did I do?” I ask, earning a raised eyebrow from Martha.
“You really don’t remember anything?” I shake my head, we’ve been through this one already.
“Okay, Eli you were training in courtyard before breakfast and got a little, no, very carried away, You see, mages can usually bear three times their mana limit being pushed through their body in a short period of time. The mana vessels can only tolerate this much. You on the other hand used at least five times that much. The only reason you’re still alive is probably because of your Celestial blood since this level of mana poisoning would be lethal, even for me.” My eyes grow increasingly wide as she tells me how dumb I'd been.
Just how stupid do I need to be? I get hurt because of my negligence over and over again but do I learn from it? Noooo. I mean it was kinda worth it again… NO! Bad Eli! I need to take a step back.
“The other reason why you look like shit,” Very nice of her, thanks “is the spell you made. That large amount of mana was channeled into a concentrated spear of fire, incredibly hot in temperature and devastating when used. The spell got out of hand and you almost died as a consequence. I was only barely able to bail you out before the shock could tear you apart.”
I stay quiet for a few seconds digesting my mistakes. “Did it look cool?” The first thing that leaves my mouth.
My reward is a smack to the back of my head and a grumpy look. “You idiot, it could’ve killed you and that's the first thing you say?” She asks, outraged but after a deep breath mutters. “It did.”
Instead of sulking at the treatment I just smile widely at the covert praise. “When is the next visit to the forest?” The second most important thing.
“Ask a stupid question like that again and I’ll leave you alone for boredom to finish you off.” Martha threatens. “Speaking of… I do need to leave, I have plenty of things to do. I’ll have someone bring some food over. As we all know a good meal always helps with healing back up.” She stands up to leave the room but stops in the doorway.
“I’m happy you’re alive Elyssia, and was very worried for you. Please take better care of yourself.” She looks at me seriously before grinning fiendishly. ”Oh, and you missed the outing. It would’ve been today and we won’t make up for it! Sleep well.” And she slips away before I can even utter a word.
“I guess it's just me and the books now…”