[Congratulations! You have selected the class Pale Maiden.]
"The fuck I did!" Mercy shouted as she stared at the system message. There was something funky at work, a bug in the literal System.
Mercy had been going over her class choices when things went absolutely insane. Her first thought was that it had something to do with her parasitic body buddy. "Grace! Is this you?"
When she didn't get an answer she was a tad worried, her immediate anger at being denied a choice in her class selection overshadowed that. She redirected her ire back to the System screen. She didn't expect an answer, so she was more than surprised when something happened. Once again the screen blitzed and bugged out, and she suddenly felt a pain in her chest. It was as though something cold and malicious grasped her heart and started to squeeze.
"Again with this shit?" Mercy huffed out clutching her chest as she watched part of a message repeat itself at nauseum.
[Congratulations! You have selected -]
[Congratulations! You have selected -]
[Congratulations! You have selected -]
[Congratulations! You have selected -]
....
[Attention! A System error has been detected!]
"Yeah no shit." Mercy chimed in drenched in sweat, her health dropping slowly but . She grit her teeth at another surge of pain. Her familiar pudding stood whipping as she pressed her little hound nose against Mercy.steadily
[Now attempting to correct error please wait.]
"Oh, sure, I'll be right over here, waiting, dying."
"Ah, how nice of you to join me, Grace. What in all the various hells is going on?"
"You call slowly dying a snag?"
"If I die then you die."
Mercy could feel Grace shrug.
"Pretty sure it is."
Mercy growled, which Grace seemed to take as her que.
"And, that'll be a change how?"
Mercy braced herself, and as usual, it wasn't enough. She felt something within her break, and then ungulate. It moved from the center of her chest and up through her arm. The vice grip around her heart loosened, easing some of the pressure and pain. She felt something pierce through the skin of her hand. Mercy stared at it hard watching as what looked to be some sort of nightmare worm writhed and wriggled. Her mouth hung open a little in both fascination and disgust. Then came the ooze. It rose from her skin and subdued the worm seemingly wrapping it around one of her fingers. More ooze rose up, and seemed to engulf her hand, before shooting out and ensnaring Pudding.
"What are you doing?!" Mercy cried out, despite her grim hound not making a sound.
"Probably?! What do you mean probably?!"
Grace didn't answer, as she continued to do whatever it was she was doing. Minutes went by as Mercy slowly began to feel less like run over shit. Her breathing returned to something approaching normal. It was still somewhat ragged as she was naturally worried about what was going on. Her mana was rushing through her body toward her hand, as that seemed to be where all the action was as it went from an inferno to ice cold and back several times.
The ooze receeded back, and Mercy found herself staring at a not unfamiliar ring. She blinked and then scrunched up her face.
"Didn't that get broken down or whatever? How is it back."
"How exactly?"
[Attention! Error has been resolved.]
"Well, that was convenient. What the hell was the issue?" Mercy asked expecting an answer from Grace. Instead it came from the System.
[Foreign, unauthorized "Void" influence has been removed from subject, and contained. You may now proceed to class selection.]
Mercy opened her mouth to say something glib, but was cut off, as yet another error message popped up. "What now?"
[Attention! Previous record of primary class detected from subject.]
[Attention! Primary class was sundered due to corruption from unauthorized "Void" influence.]
[Unauthorized "Void" influence no longer detected. Now restoring primary Class ~ Hex Slinger to subject.]
Mercy couldn't help the smile that broke out onto her face.
[Congratulations! You have gained the class Hexslinger.
+5 CHA, +5 DEX +3 INT +1 FREE POINT
You have gained the following class abilities:
Guncraft
Firearm mastery
Hexcraft]
Mercy felt ecstatic at getting her old class back. It wasn't as fancy as some of the ones the System had been attempting hoist on her, but that didn't matter. It also didn't matter that the class seemed to be doling out more points than before. It was one of those things she decided to just accept and move on. And, on the note of moving on, the System seemed it was time for her to do just that.
[Attention! Previous class selection operation cannot be stopped. Now unlocking sub-class slot.]
[Running through subject records for sub class possibilities please wait.]
While the System was doing its thing, Mercy took the opportunity to inquire about a few things.
"Grace what did you do?"
"You aren't talking about yourself are you?"
"Was it that worm thing?"
Mercy looked down at her hand, and the ring that once again occupied one of her fingers. She didn't need Grace to explain much more. Using the what she knew, she made an educated guess. Mercy had felt the power of the [Luxuria Archive] in the creation of the ring. She wasn't a hundred percent sure, but she'd heard of an item or two that had aspects of the "void", and as far as she knew the System didn't go into purge mode on them. Then again, the System messages had used the phrase "unauthorized" when describing the thing messing with her. That had Mercy coming to the conclusion that void items, at least in some cases, were fine, while a living void creature was not. That is, assuming that the void creature was dead. It looked and felt dead. At the very least there was a notable absence of something in her head. Though of course that lead to the question of her brand new familiar, Pudding
"What happened to Pudding?"
"What? Why?" "So, what you're saying, is that's she's fine." "Good then." With that settled, the System window returned. [Attention! The following sub classes are available. Please pick one of the following: Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. 1 - Feindflesh Evolutionist 2 - Symbiant Host 3 - Vorpal Knight ] Not a whole lot of options this time, Mercy noted to herself, and was on offer seemed a tad more focused. Though that was to be somewhat expected of a sub-class. Looking over them all, Mercy found herself leaning to one, more than the others. [Sub Class - Feindflesh Evolutionist +5 STR, +5 DEX +1 Free point per level You have trafficked with dark forces and can now invoke their sinister powers to assume the strengths of demons and devils alike. Fiendflesh evolutionista care nothing for the natural world, and instead care only for power. Monsters on to themselves, very few who follow similar paths will choose to willingly ally themselves with fiendflesh evolutionists, leaving them more often than not bitter outcasts.] "Thinking what I'm thinking?" Mercy asked. "Exactly. Symbiant seems sort of redundant, and Vorpals are creepy." Taking in a deep breath, Mercy mentally reached out for [Fiendflesh Shifter]. Unlike before, there was a confirmation prompt from the System, which gave her some hope on this being legit. Hitting affirmative on the confirmation she was greeted to a message that she was honestly a little tire of at this point. [Congratulation! You have selected the Sub Class Fiendflesh Evolutionist. You have gained +5 STR, +5CON and 1 Free point. You have gained the following class abilities: Infernal Claws Fiendish Aspect] Mercy felt a rush of energy through her. It held a certain taint that she was more than use to, and actually found a bit comforting. Feeling warm she lifted on her hands up, and changed it with [Symbian Blades] at the same time, without the need to even think about it her new ability [Infernal Claws] seemed to sync up. That same energy she'd felt coated her clawed hand in an ominous and not so subtly sinister aura. Mercy smiled before reverting her hands back to normal. As she did, she found her vision going wonky. She got light headed, and then passed out. Mercy didn't get back up until the next day, well after the sun had risen. She had just about skipped over the entirety of the morning, and was now enchroaching on the afternoon. While that wound up being a good thing for her rather exhausted mind and body, there was the small matter of the conditions of the room, not to mention herself. Her clothes were one big sweat stain, that smelled of dried vomit, that had unfortunately been baked by the sunlight that streamed through the window of the house she was squatting in, and was one of the first things noticed. Much to her horror. Moving like the dead as she transversed the house, she eventually found the bathroom, with a shower. Stripping down, she turned on the water. It was freezing, but she didn't exactly have the luxury of being picky. Locating the bare minimum of what she would call soap, she in and tried to wash away everything that she could. It was slow going as some things simply refused to go away with less than 4 pass overs. Eventually steppedhowever she reached a point where she had to declare herself clean enough, even if she swore that she could smell the scent of ick still in her hair. Naked as the day she were born, Mercy walked through the house with a tad more pep in her step until she came across a bed room with a definite feminine bent to it. Going off the size, Mercy could only assume that it belonged to eiher the owner's daughter, mistress or crossdressing son, though she honestly wasn't putting much stock in the latter. Sitting on the bed, teasing out the water from her hair, Mercy decided to check on her status. [Status Name: Mercy Phillips Race: Void-touched Aberrant Hybrid Level: 10 Class: Hexslinger Sub Class: Feindflesh Evolutionist Titles: Blessing of the Pale, Blessing of Luxuria, Void-touched, Abyss-touched, Primordial Host, Arcane Awakening Stats: HP: 410/410 MP: 640/640 STR: 39, DEX: 35, CON: 31 INT: 27 CHA: 39 Points to distribute: 12 Racial abilities: Dark vision Symbian Blades Devour Inventory Spell Archive Class abilities: Guncraft Firearm mastery Hexcraft Fiend Aspect Infernal claws General: Mana Manipulation Chantless Casting Martial Arts Proficiency Familiar (1) - Pudding(Grim Hound) Lv. 1] Mercy looked over things, unable to keep herself from smiling. While she sat there looking things over, Mercy decided to kick both her STR, and CHA up to and even 40. After that she brought up her CON to match her DEX, and finally dumped the rest of her points into INT. It was still lagging behind the others, but not quite as much. Satisfied with her numbers she closed the screen and turned to her next problem, clothes. The last set she had was covered in vomit, and other disgusting fluids. The only thing that wound up being salvageable were her System generated boots. As such she found herself needing to rifle through the oh so convenient wardrobe there in the room, which quickly proved to be worthless. Mercy couldn't tell if the girl this room had once belonged to was younger than her, or just sadly under endowed, as everything was far too small, especially around certain areas. Mercy had more luck as she raided the wardrobe belonging to whom she assumed was the lady of the house, though not by much. She managed to snag a blouse, one size to small, thus requiring the need to keep a few buttons open, and a loose skirt that reached her shins. The kicker though had been the hat. It was in that same Stetson style, but more sculpted for a woman's head. Giving the place a finial look over, Mercy decided it was time to go. She wanted to get back home, or failing that, get to some place with even a small hint of civilization to it. The obvious issue with that, was how? For one thing, and it was probably the biggest thing, was that she had absolutely no idea of where she was, which made going off in some random directions less than smart. It also had her regretting killing everyone. "Grace, in the future, remind me to keep at least one person alive." Not super sold what with the lack of enthusiasm, Mercy began looking for a horse, or what ever the equivalent to them were in this part of the world. She couldn't recall having seen any the night before. Glancing at her new ring, she contemplated on the idea of Puddin being a mount, but dismissed it. Her familiar was a pup, and would stay as such for a bit. Even if that weren't the case there was still the small problem of direction. "Kind of, but I don't happen to know any of them." Mercy said. "Eh, it's better than just standing here, doing nothing." Mercy conceded and back to searching. As Mercy searched from top to bottom in all the spots that would seem likely for a map to be, there was a small band of more Militia men approaching. The eerie quiet of the ghost town made it easy enough for Mercy to hear their approach. In what came as a big surprise she heard the sound of an engine. Multiple engines in fact. After the Starfall, when civilization went to hell in a handbasket, most motorized vehicles fell out of fashion. As it, gas dried up, and all the people that knew how to keep them in working condition got eaten. They all but ceased to be a thing, save in the hands of the elites like her family, whom either had skills, or employed those that had skills to operate them in alternative ways. So, curious about what she was hearing, Mercy momentarily abandoned her search to get a peak at what was coming. Which apparently was a small convoy. "Think any of them know the way?" Mercy asked as she removed a gun from her inventory and gave it a once over. It was a fairly standard revolver. With her [Guncraft] skill back she could see how bad it truly was, also how to improve it. That however was something for later. Deeming it good enough she pointed it toward the on coming convoy. "Then I got nothing to lose." Mercy replied cocking the gun. Her eyes turned a deep black as she utilized one her hexcraft, [Critical Eye]. It improved her sight for a short amount of time, and doubled the effective range for guns. It didn't have the flash of some of her other Hexcraft, but it didn't lack the oomph in what she planned on doing. Waiting until they got reasonably close she took a stance, lined up a target then she pulled the trigger once. Readjusting her aim again, and lining it up for another target she fired again. After a moment she heard the System ding indicating a kill, followed by another. As a bonus she spotted one of the cars lose control, swerved and take out another, resulting in a couple of more dings. At that point Mercy could see them slowing down. "Don't think they expected that." Mercy laughed going for a hat trick. "Ha! Then I definitely doubt they'll be expecting this." Mercy said, shifting some of her limbs. ---------------------------------------- "What the hell was that?" Boyd Carlton asked as he huffed out a breath and held his hat to his head. He sat in one of the cars currently heading to some nothing town called Hope Springs or something. His heart was beating a mile a minute. One moment it was smooth sailing next his he knows he's getting a notification that one of his brothers is dead. Then another right after, the car that he'd been driving going all kinds of wonky. It was pandemonium as everyone tried to avoid becoming apart of the growing wreckage. "I damn near shit myself." "We're being attacked." One of the passengers in the car said. His name was Jared Deltino, and was the young and serious sort of guy. "Maybe it was just a stray shot. Some of the guys in town getting carried away." Boyd said trying to convince himself more than Jared. He felt fairly certain the kid was right, but he'd rather it wasn't, because then it meant there was someone that could pop off shots from a crazy ass distance, and hit. That last bit was the concerning part. "Unlikely. One stray shot hitting, perhaps, unlikely but perhaps. Two? No way in hell." As he said it, they head a glass shatter, and got another message regarding a dead comrade. "I officially call bull at three." "Yeah, can't argue with that." Boyd relented ducking down. "Question is, do we confront the sharp shooter, or cheese it?" "Well, personally I don't like the idea of presenting my back to this bastard." Jared said, a sentiment that others of the convoy seemed to have. "And, not just because I don't feel like getting shot in the ass." Boyd watched as his car mate, adjusted his hat, pulled out his gun, and left the car. He noticed others doing the same. Most of them were what some would call the loyal type, Boyd referred to them as idiots. Real gunho on the cause. Actually bought into the whole nonsense speel that their admittedly charismatic leader spouted about making things right and proper. It was one of the few failing that Boyd didn't possess. Looking to Jared and the others he had a short debate in his mind about whether or not he join them. He opted not to join this band of morons. Which, as it turned out, happened to be a good thing, once the screams started. "What the fuck is that thing?" He asked as something made short work of his the others. It moved quickly, and tore the others to ribbons. There was a savagery that went beyond terrifying, to almost cruel. Rightfully freaked out, he attempted to put the car in reverse, and get out of there, only for something, or rather, something to come flying toward him. It landed hard on the car, breaking the windshield and impacting the hood. "Jes-" Pressed against his seat, Boyd's eyes shot to broken and bloody body that was Jared. The boy's eyes were open, lifeless and looking haunted. Body frozen from shock, jumped as he heard a sudden tapping from the glass to his left. His head turned and he found himself looking into the eyes of a young woman. "Hey there, I'm kinda sort of lost. I hope you don't mind indulging me by pointing me in the right direction." She said with a smile that sent a shiver down his spine, that finally loosened his bowels. "Well, that's just nasty."