The next morning Ember woke up in a cold sweat, her heart was beating a mile a minute. Her eyes shot open and she analyzed her surroundings. ‘Dark… no… I'm … I'm safe…’ she thought before releasing her held breath. ‘I'm at Willow's. What was that dream?’ Ember rolled over to the edge of her bed before deciding to go ahead and get up. After climbing out of bed she walked around the perimeter of the room lighting the candles placed on the walls.
Ember let out a long sigh as she sat back down on the edge of her bed, her head turned to face the window. ‘I wish I knew what the time was here. Without a clock or the sun being up in the sky there's no way to tell what the time really is.’ While pondering these thoughts she drew closer to the window, placing her forehead against the cold glass in hopes of it calming her thoughts. ‘I miss home… I miss my mom… How do I even get back? How did I even get here? I remember getting chased by a mountain lion’ She scrunched her eyebrows and pinched the bridge of her nose as she concentrated. ‘I managed to get away from it by hiding in a crack or cave on the mountain side. But then there's darkness, darkness mixed with fear and the feeling of being watched.’
“I fell!” she nearly shouted before catching herself. ‘Did I hit my head really hard? Like, hard enough to cause hallucinations? Can head trauma cause this much detail in a hallucination though? Was there some kinda magical portal hidden in the mountain? Or D…did I die?’ She sat back down with a hollow look in her eyes. ‘My body could be rotting in a hole back on earth.’
“No.” She said to herself. “I am alive. I am here in Willow’s home.” She looked back out the window searching for the moon. “Oh… So pretty.” She found the moon floating close to the horizon. It probably had about an hour or so left before it would set for the night. The moon looked huge in the night sky, glowing with a soft pinkish purple light. ‘That’s like twice the size of the moon back home, and what makes it pink?’ she wondered. ‘There's no way I would be able to make up something like this in a coma, there has been too much detail, and I can feel everything… and smell everything.’ her entire body shuddered at the memory of the rabbits exploding from gas build up. ‘God… why does my magic have to be so gross. It couldn't focus on the nature side and let me grow plants. No, it has to cause everything in my aura to rot.’ she huffed. ‘Maybe if I train it up I'll have more control over how it affects the stuff it touches. But that also means I will have to get serious about using it. I wonder if I can gain a level by just using it actively. If it does gain experience in passive mode I can only imagine it being at a snail's pace.’ “Hmmm…”
[Rot Aura: Active 2MP/S]
‘Alright test time. I'll run my mana down to ten, check on my skill for any growth and then let my mana restore itself before doing it again.
[Name: Ember Abiss
Title: None
Race:Human
Age:23
Level:1
Class: “Locked”
Affinities: Rot, Nature, Void
Lifeforce: 50
Mana: 72
ki: 50
Alacrity: 5
Acuity: 7
Vitality: 5
Vigor: 5
Tenacity: 8
Fortitude: 5
Active Skills: 0/5
Passive Skill: 0/5
Classless Skills:1/5
Rot Aura - lvl 2 ]
‘Okay, eighty mana should be forty seconds of aura. If I only want to use seventy then I have a little over half a minute of active aura at a time. Huh. Now that i think about it i cant use my skill for very long at a time. I need to boost my mana pool stat, but to do that I would need to go level myself first. But I am close, sixty percent and if my math is right I would need about forty more to level. Which could be pretty quick if we don't encounter any more level one bunnies. Four level twos or three level threes should do. I wonder if i could take one on, on my own yet? I got fairly accurate with the end of my staff toward the end of the last hunting trip. I think full blast Aura and one or two good whacks from my whack’n stick.’ “Eheheh.” She made herself giggle.
‘Ok time to check again, Metatron vitals please?’
[Name: Ember Abiss
Title: None
Race:Human
Age:23
Level:1
Class: “Locked”
Affinities: Rot, Nature, Void
Lifeforce: 50
Mana: 14
ki: 50]
“Stop.” She said aloud, not expecting so much time to have passed already. ‘That felt a lot faster than I thought but it’s close enough to ten.’ she canceled the skill and let out a small sigh. “I really need more mana.”
[Rot Aura: Passive]
[Name: Ember Abiss
Title: None
Race:Human
Age:23
Level:1
Class: “Locked”
Affinities: Rot, Nature, Void
Lifeforce: 50
Mana: 12
ki: 50]
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
[Ember Abiss, Classless, Level 1 60%]
[Rot Aura level 2 41% (Rot, Nature, Area, Damage Over Time, Acuity)]
“Yes!” She quietly exclaimed with a fist pump. ‘I was right, it does gain experience through active usage. Now if i just keep it active whenever i'm not in need of my mana i should be able to level it pretty quick. It feels like there should be a downside to this though. I guess I wouldn't be able to go near anyone without harming them.’ She gave another shudder, ‘or exploding small animals…’
Just thinking about it brought the scent back to her, so strong she could swear she could smell it again. “Ugk…” She gagged. Ember opened the window in her room in hopes of the fresh air being able to clear the dead rabbit smell from her memory. A light wisp of cool moist air brushed across her face as soon as the window left the windowsill. It carried on it the scent of flowers from the surroundings and just a hint of bread.
‘It must be closer to morning than night if someone is up cooking already.’ She thought to herself, a small rumble forming in her belly. ‘Nope it feels too early to start making breakfast. No matter how bad you want it’ her thoughts directed at her stomach. Ember then laid back down in bed on top of her sheets going over all the types of food she saw when preparing dinner. ‘I saw eggs. Eggs always taste like eggs. At least I couldn't tell the difference when I tried duck eggs and quail eggs. I’ll make eggs and toast. That should be a nice breakfast but I'll check for bacon like meat in the fridge… Ice box? Snow hole?’ with the last thought she let out a small cackle.
“Metatron vitals please?” She asked the empty room.
[Name: Ember Abiss
Title: None
Race:Human
Age:23
Level:1
Class: “Locked”
Affinities: Rot, Nature, Void
Lifeforce: 50
Mana: 17
ki: 50]
“Wow…” She let out unimpressed, ‘This is going to take forever to recharge. My passive damage is based off of my mana regen so I should be able to gauge it… or ask. Hey Metatron, can I see my regeneration rate for my mana? Or any other resource?
[Baseline Regeneration Rates
Lifeforce - 50/8h 6.25/H 0.10/M
Mana - 70/8h 8.75/H 0.15/M
Ki - 50/8h 6.25/H 0.10/M]
‘Oh sweet, that's straightforward and easy to follow. I didn't think it would be broken down for me as well. I really thought I would have to do some math to get the mana per minute rate figured out. But there it is, point one five mana per minute.’
Ember puts her fingers up as she counts up by fifteen. ‘So like seven minutes for one point… and another seven hours for full mana.’ “Ugh!” She groaned. ‘Maybe I should focus on acuity for regen instead of a bigger mana pool. I'll just fill it up faster than I can spend it.’
Around thirty minutes later Ember noticed the sun starting to crest the horizon. ‘Alright suns up, time to cook.’ She thought to herself while stretching before she rolled herself out of bed. Once she made it to the kitchen she pulled out the pan she would use for the eggs and hopefully bacon. She pulled four eggs from storage and sat them to the side before sorting out the various meats. ‘Nothing looks like bacon darn it. There is this sausage looking ground meat, I guess this will have to do. It's only been a few days and I'm already craving food from home. Bah!’
After sorting out what ingredients she would use this morning, Ember began to patty out four sausage patties. Once she finished with the shaping she tossed the meat in the pan to fry. The popping and sizzling from the raw meat hitting the hot iron filled the kitchen with a delicious scent that got her mouth watering. ‘Alright, the sausage is cooking so I guess I'll start warming the bread. The eggs won't take very long after they start so they should be last.’ She placed the loaf of bread, which smelled like a sourdough, into the oven to warm. Once the sausage finished cooking she used the leftover grease to cook up the eggs.
Around the time she finished plating the meal she could hear stirring from Willow's room. When Willow made her way into the kitchen Ember saw her sniffing the air and licking her lips. “You're going to spoil me with all these meals if you keep cooking for me dear. Though I must admit it smells absolutely delectable.” Willow said with a smile. “Thank you dear, I truly appreciate it.” with that they sat together at the dining room table and shared a meal.
Later that morning Ember made her way over to the guild hall. She had plans to find a new hunting job so she could make a little money while working on her level. She found herself standing in front of a large cork board with papers spread all across it. Each one had a different job posted on it while the top showed a symbol for quick recognition of the type. Hunting jobs had a sword and bow at the top, she saw a few herb and flower gathering jobs marked with a flower, and the two symbols with the least representation on the board were the box for local delivery and a wagon for escort missions. She looked through the various hunting jobs searching for one focused on jackalope or other low level hunts. Most of the posts were for creatures stronger than what she could handle, mostly consisting of wolf and bear culling. After reading through half the hunting posts on the board she finally came across two at the bottom of the board that caught her eye.
‘Hmmm. The Jackalope hunt was what I planned on taking when I came in today but now I see this. I'm not sure what a crystal jelly is but the sketch looks similar to slime monsters from video games and TV shows. Should I take this one?’ She thought to herself as she stood in place holding the two requests. ‘They look to be in the same general area as one another. I'll just need to go a little farther south to find the pond with the jelly infestation. I don't see why I wouldn't be able to get a few bunnies on my way there.’ She made an audible giggle thinking of how simple her upcoming hunt would be.
Ember made her way over to the receptionist desk to claim the two posts she had taken. As she approached she noticed the same girl that helped her out when Thorn brought her here to use the training grounds. Their eyes met and the girl gave Ember a big smile inviting her to use her line. “Hello. You take two jobs?” The girl asked in a slow deliberate way, giving extra space between saying each word.
“Eheheh.”Ember giggled. “Yes please. I would like to take these two.” She said while sliding the two pages across the wooden countertop. “Can I ask a few questions though? I've never actually seen a crystal jelly before.”
The receptionist stood slack jawed for a moment before catching herself. “Oh, I, um, you… you learned the language pretty fast didn't you?”
Ember made another small giggle before answering. “Yes, Thorn and Willow think it is because I put all of my stat points in my mental attributes. To be fair though I haven't learned everything. Some words are still tricky.”
The receptionist hid a smile with her hand. “Well you are doing very well, and you have a pretty cute accent when you speak.”
Ember blushed a bit at the compliment. “Thank you.” She replied with a laugh. “My friends back home always said I had a strong southern belle accent. I wonder if that is carrying through to this language too?”
“I'm not exactly sure what a southern belle is. I know the words you're using but I don't think that phrase is a thing here.” The receptionist replied scratching the side of her head.
“Oh umm… It would be hard to explain without any context.” Ember said while she scrunched her eyebrows in contemplation. “It's kind of like mixing a really strong accent with a very proper manner of speaking. It's easy and hard to understand, like if you didn't speak slow and proper the accent would make the words unrecognizable, but it usually sounds really pretty and flowy. I love when I run into another girl with the same accent, it's really nice to hear it when I'm not the one talking.” She drew a hand to her mouth with a quick inhale. “Oh I'm so sorry I just started ranting and went off on a tangent.”
The receptionist waved her hands in front of her. “No, no. It's perfectly fine. I enjoyed the explanation.” She ended with a kind smile. She then started digging around under her desk before pulling out a fairly large book. “I'll just log your jobs under your name for our records. We will send out a search party if you don't at least check in with us after a week. If you are found to not be in any danger then the guild may fine you based on the circumstances.” She said as if she's said it hundreds of times and the words have lost all meaning to her. “Name please?”
“Ember Abiss” Ember replied.
“Ember, Ember, Ember.” She repeated to herself while flipping through the pages. “Ah ha! found you.” She exclaimed happily. “This looks to be your first time taking on a solo job. Am I correct?”
“Yes. The last time was with Thorn and he took care of this part.” Ember answered.
“Not a problem! I only ask due to the nature of the jobs you have chosen. They are both hunting jobs. While both targets are low level crystal jellies have been seen up to level seven, and jackalopes around level five.” She gave Ember a once over. “You look to be fairly low level. No offense meant, but are you sure you want to go alone? It's pretty common for newcomers to join up in small groups of four or five. If you would like to join a group I can add your name to the list of solo hunters also looking to group up.”
Ember took a moment to think it over before giving her reply. “Not right now I don't think. I want to try my hand at the simple stuff. I promise to come back and sign up if things get hairy.”
“Why would it grow hair?” The receptionist asked curiously.
“Ha. Sorry. That's probably just a saying from home that you don't use. It means if things look precarious.” Ember laughed while replying.
“Ah… Okay. Well, you are all registered now.” The receptionist replied while she slid the log book back under her desk. "Once you complete the request, come back to my line and I'll log your loot and give you your rewards.” She gave Ember a smile. “Please excuse my rudeness earlier as well but my name is Sabel. It was a pleasure to serve you today and I wish you luck on your big hunt.”
Ember gave one last wave and smile to Sabel before turning to leave. ‘Wow… that was a lot to take in but I think I'm ready.’ she thought to herself. ‘I have my staff, my water bottle, lucky hoodie, and my still refilling mana. Just to be safe, hey Metatron can I see my vitals please.”
[Name: Ember Abiss
Title: None
Race:Human
Age:23
Level:1
Class: “Locked”
Affinities: Rot, Nature, Void
Lifeforce: 50
Mana: 43/80
ki: 50]
“Bah!” She exclaimed. Then looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear her complaining to herself. ‘Man… Three hours after practice this morning and I'm still only at half mana.’ She put a Grabbed her forehead in frustration. ‘That's it I'm boosting regen. I'll get a bigger pool later. Like when I have the regeneration rate to make it worth it. Nine gained in an hour but ten are gone in two seconds if I go full blast.’ She kicked a rock on the dirt road along her path. “Stupid.”
Now that all the registration and preparation are complete Ember continued her way down the dirt road. She was heading to the same forest where she came to hunt jackalope before with Thorn. Although now she had a plan to enter the woods at the same point she did last time, but instead of going deeper into the forest where the higher level jackalope roam she would continue south, along the tree line, until she could spot the pond where the crystal jellies seem to be gathering.