Chapter 31
“The call from her new employer”
An annoying violet light illuminated her eyes, interrupting her sleep.
Mmm... Who’s the idiot who put a flashlight in front of my face? Kalysto thought, half asleep.
She was about to throw the pillow in the face of the annoying intruder when she started to open her eyes and saw that it was the violet screen of her new employer. Shit!
Startled, she immediately sat up and began to read the white text she had written on it.
[I hope you’ve had enough time to adjust to this world.]
“...Something like that...” answered Kalysto in a low voice. Looking cautiously at the entrance to her cell, making sure that neither Koden nor any of the guards were paying attention to her.
[As we had discussed earlier, I want you to learn the first profession today.]
“Okay.”
[Have you familiarized yourself with your skills yet?]
“Only some of them. But I would like to ask, why am I not allowed to heal myself? Is there a way for this skill to be fully unlocked?”
[...]
The next window took several minutes to reappear, so long that Kalysto began to doubt that her new employer would give her an answer. And she bit her lower lip as the light from the two moons filtered through the small window high up and halfway up the wall that connected her cell to Koden’s and indicated the end of the corridor.
[...Because it’s not necessary.]
Kalysto felt both annoyed and surprised by these words.
What do you mean, it’s not necessary? Don’t you care if I die?
What happened to taking care of the health of their employees? In this world, there are no social benefits and social security for employees? But when she opened her mouth with the intention of arguing about how unfair that was, a new screen opened before her.
[I have assigned you a teacher. She will guide you and help you prepare so that you can fulfill one of the three main missions of our agreement.]
“... Okay,” she mumbled, still feeling annoyed, “but you still haven’t told me what the third mission is about.“
[...]
[...For now, you don’t need to know.]
[ I’ll start with the invocation. ]
So that’s the way it’s going to be? Huh? She thought resentfully.
Immediately, a violet light was drawn on the mattress on which she was sitting, it was at that instant that she realized that she was barefoot and ran to put on her shoes and socks while the circle was drawn again just below the sole of her shoes, expanding to form a circle full of symbols that she failed to recognize. Before the circle was activated, she placed the pillow vertically on the improvised straw mattress lined with cloth, and arranged the sheet on top of it in such a way that, if at any moment the guards passed by to make a patrol and saw a lump under the blanket, they would think it was her. Just as she finished arranging it, she picked up her hair bun and began to pull it into a ponytail at the same instant that the summoning circle was activated, and her whole world blurred.
A spacious, brightly lit room appeared before her. And Kalysto hurried to finish arranging her hair to look as presentable as possible, thinking that she would finally meet her new employer. However, seeing the room whose ceiling was as high as if it were that of a second floor rather than a first floor, made her question the height of these creatures.
Maybe my new boss is a half-giant, and that’s why he sees humans as insignificant? She thought curiously, looking closely at the tall beige painted walls. Ok, the color is definitely nice, when I get my own house someday I know what color to paint it.
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There were no paintings hanging on the smooth walls, but what there were, however, were large windows that let in light, surrounded by elegant curtains. And in between, thick torches of what appeared to be beautifully cut glass illuminated the entire room and decorated the walls. A couple of pieces of furniture parked in the back around a tea table in the center of which rested a pretty floral arrangement, caught her eye for a moment.
But despite the elegant and somewhat minimalist decor of what appeared to be a room for receiving guests, there was no one there waiting for her.
So she turned to her right, continuing her inspection of the place, finding herself near one of those particular torches, noticing that it wasn’t glass.
Is that a precious stone? How can they light a fire on a stone? She took a step closer to inspect the strange phenomenon up close when a loud throat clearing behind her back made her realize she was not alone. She turned immediately, noticing a woman in armor with a sword tucked inside its scabbard strapped with a leather strap to her waist. The nice shade of brown mixed with milk of her skin caught her attention immediately, being the first person who didn’t have a light or tan complexion that she had seen in this world.
So maybe they’re not racist about skin color, but species. Good to know.
The woman, who looked no more than six feet tall, looked at her with no expression on her face, though she still kept her clenched fist hiding her lips. Her dark green hair contrasted with the light greenish hue of her eyes. Next to her, seated in a majestic chair with golden edges, was another woman a couple of years younger than the first one, but with long, straight aquamarine hair extending to the middle of her breasts and blue eyes fixed on her. And with her slender body covered by a long lilac-colored robe with long sleeves. Next to both of them, a long wooden table was placed and on it, hundreds of gray-colored stones the size of a clenched fist were displayed and arranged in fifteen rows, each of them with at least seventy stones. A second table, smaller than the previous one, but with the same dark shade of varnished wood, displayed more than thirty one- and two-liter glass bottles filled with potions. From the blue hue, she could tell that most of them were mana potions, two two-liter bottles were red, and the rest were all violet.
To get rid of fatigue. Kalysto thought. Beginning to worry about what it meant to be given so many potions.
“Hello, I’m Kalysto,” she greeted, trying hard to put a smile on her lips and relax the expression on her face.
“We know,” replied the woman sitting in the chair. From the lack of reaction on her face, Kalysto could tell that she was not very happy to be there with her.
A sense of disparity came over her and, pretending to scratch the top of her lip, she whispered suspiciously.
“ Map” immediately a violet window opened before her, revealing that she was now on the left side of the continent, within the vast forested region. The violet dot indicating her employer looked like a quarter crescent moon above which was the yellow dot of her, almost overshadowing it, but not completely.
So we are close, but not in the same room. Kalysto concluded. Realizing that neither of the other two people gathered there was her new boss.
Still, she was curious to know if they would lie to her face. With a gentle movement, as if she was arranging a strand of hair that got out of place, she closed the window. Noticing that the expression of both women did not change.
So they can’t see my system. She brightened, her usual distrust coming to the fore.
“Are you my new boss?” She asked, feigning ignorance and wanting to find out a bit what the relationship between them was, but she wasn’t sure if it felt right here to ask them directly.
“No... But let’s say we both work for the same person,” she answered, gritting her teeth.
Does it bother her so much to talk to a human? Or is her problem with the boss? Kalysto thought. Wiping the smile from her lips, striving to maintain neutrality in her expression and avoid grimacing in displeasure. Surely she has some other kind of contract with the boss.
Despite her human appearance the woman sitting in front of her didn’t seem to be as tall as the guard next to her, although her slender figure could compete with that of a model on Earth, from the tension in her muscles it was obvious that she would rather be anywhere else but near her.
Beauty is definitely not everything.
“... Okay” and she kept silent, waiting for the stranger to introduce herself and continue with whatever it was she had to say.
“Good evening, Kalysto. I am Artemis. Your new instructor,” the young ex-waitress nodded her head. “Today we will touch on two subjects. But first, may I see your system?“
Kalysto frowned.
System? As in singular and not plural? Haven’t you noticed yet... Then it’s better not to let them know I have an advantage.
“Is that necessary?” she answered in a loud voice.
“No, but it would make things easier for me,” she said, and silence reigned in the room. After a few minutes of waiting, Artemis let out a long sigh. "Tell me if you have already chosen a profession."
“Of course not. The boss told me that I should wait to choose the two professions he would choose for me. And I don’t even know how many professions a person can have.”
Artemis nodded her head.
“In this world, normally humans can only have one profession due to the restrictions imposed on their system and this option is only open to them as soon as they reach level 10. But our system allows us many more freedoms. We can have up to three professions, although most of them stay with one and specialize in it. Moreover, we don’t have to wait until we reach that level to choose them.”