[ Achievement Received: Conqueror of the Crow Forest ]
[ Conqueror of the Crow Forest - achievement awarded to the person who defeated all three Crow Forest guardians in a direct clash. ]
[ Reward: 50,000 free XP and the ability to choose any Class A passive skill for free ]
Elrianthe browsed through the backlog of messages, wishing for a moment to take her thoughts away from her grief over the loss of her friend. He certainly wouldn't want her to lament his death endlessly.
Although she felt that she could have prevented all this, she did not want Taygeer's decision to sacrifice his life in her defense to be considered a waste. She believed that his soul would follow her, just as he had promised before he passed away. She had to accept his choice and move on.
[ +16,500 XP ]
[ +3300 free XP ]
Killing the troll also gave her a significant increase in experience points, but it didn't matter much anymore, since the class change would reset her level anyway. Knowing that switching to the Grim Shepherd class would give her telepathic communication with her puppets, she didn't want to delay any longer. If she had decided to make this change earlier, she could have affected the outcome of the clash with the troll. With that, she was in danger of hesitating. The world would not wait for Elrianthe to finally make a decision. She convinced herself that she needed to be more decisive and always ready for anything.
[ Would you like to change your class to Grim Shepherd?]
'Yes,' she thought, approving her choice.
[ The class change has been successful. The host level was reset and the system was adjusted to the new conditions. ]
[ A new skill < Tie with the herd > has been received ]
< Tie with the herd > (Class B, class skill) - the host receives the ability to communicate telepathically with his puppets.
'I have to try it out somehow,' thought Elrianthe.
Tie: 'Gaz? I'm testing the ability. Can you answer me?' she asked, using telepathy.
Tie: 'God, I thought I went crazy. Suddenly I heard your voice in my head. You could have warned me that you have this ability.'
Tie: 'I changed my class. I just received it.'
Tie: 'It will probably come in handy more than once. Do you need anything?'
Tie: 'How much distance do we have left to the city?'
Tie: 'Three hours drive.'
'Doesn't he address me too casually?” thought Elrianthe, somewhat surprised by Gaz's directness.
[ Puppet Management: ]
[ Gaz Prum ]
[ Level 10 ]
[ Control: 25% ]
'I forgot. Reduced control by new class.'
With a long journey still ahead of her, Elrianthe decided to review the system, available upgrades, and new skills.
[ Status ]
[ Name: Elrianthe Atlanta ]
[ Level: 1 (0/1000 XP) +53,760 ]
[ Class: Grim Shepherd ]
[ Health points: 270/270 ]
[ Magic points: 568/580 ]
[ Exhaustion: 9/100 ]
'With so much free XP, I can advance to a higher level again, but why do I need as many as 1,000 points to be promoted? Did the conditions change after the class change?'
After transferring the required number of XP, Elrianthe advanced to the second level.
[ Level: 2 (0/1500 XP) +52,760 ]
[ Received 1 development point and 2 stat points ]
'Oh, great. Even more numbers...' she sighed, noticing a new kind of points to give out.
Elrianthe went to a new tab, and a window with statistics appeared on the screen.
[ Host stats:
Strength: 1
Agility: 2
Condition: 0
Intelligence: 6
Knowledge: 1
Perception: 1
Presence: 4
Mentality: 8 ]
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The numbers alone didn't say much, so Elrianthe decided to explore the definitions of each statistic to find out what they were responsible for. Although they didn't look complicated and resembled basic RPG mechanics, a brief moment of study never hurt.
The first three statistics were responsible for the body:
Strength, in addition to its obvious role, also affects the number of health points, the body's resistance to damage received, and its regeneration.
Agility, on the other hand, facilitated better control of the body, increasing athletic agility, precision of movement and speed.
Condition allows one to perform activities for a longer period of time before the body began to feel fatigue and Exhaustion increased. It also helped reduce this state.
The next three statistics dealt with senses and magic:
Intelligence was a basic statistic for magic users and skills using mana. It increased the effectiveness of spells and facilitated the assimilation of information and the mastery of complex spells.
Knowledge influenced the efficiency of spells and skills, reducing the consumption of magic resources and accelerating their regeneration.
Perception made it possible to perceive threats earlier, detect the presence and attitude of others, and assess their power.
The last two statistics concerned personality:
Presence influenced how others perceived our persona. It facilitated conversation, persuasion, intimidation, and the general perception of our presence, as did charisma.
The last statistic is Mentality. If Presence shaped the way our surroundings perceived us, then Mentality influenced how we ourselves perceived our surroundings. It played an important role in mental resilience, reducing stress, pain and negative influences on our psyche. It also defends against mental attacks.
After reviewing all the definitions, she took another look at her statistics and found them to be quite accurately arranged, especially her condition, which was at zero.
'A high level of mentality probably allowed me to survive this hell,' she reflected.
Spending nearly 20,000 experience points, she managed to advance to level 7, gaining more points to hand out in the process.
[ Level: 7 (0/11391 XP) +32,979 ]
[ 3 development points and 12 stats points available ]
[ Stats:
Strength: 1
Agility: 2
Conditioning: 0
Intelligence: 10
Knowledge: 3
Perception: 1
Presentation: 8
Mentality: 10 ]
'That should be fine,' she concluded after the points were distributed.
Now all that was left for her to do was to choose one of the passives for free and invest 3 development points. Elrianthe opened the store tab and browsed through all the passives available to her for a good quarter of an hour. Finally, she decided to choose.
“Miss Elrianthe,” spoke up unexpectedly from Alison.
“What is it?” replied Elrianthe, putting off rummaging through the system.
“When we get to the town, please hide your identity,” suggested Alison.
“You mean my ears? Are you worried that people might recognize me?”
“I don't want you to face unnecessary aggression and potential danger,” replied Alison.
“Do people really hate elves that much?”
“Yes. You could cause quite a stir in the city.”
“I never asked that. Tell me, why? Where did this prejudice against elves come from?” asked Elrianthe.
“History,” replied Alison briefly.
“Tell me. I don't know much about history and people.”
Alison, after a moment's hesitation, began to tell the history of her world:
“About two thousand years ago, spatial distortions began to appear in various places on the continent, transforming into breaches between dimensions. When such a breach was opened, our world collided with the world on the other side, which often resulted in disasters in which many people died.”
“From what? From the mere merging of the two worlds?”
“No. From meeting the inhabitants on the other side of the passage. Monsters, who mercilessly murdered dozens of people. The opening of the gate between the worlds could not be avoided, and when enough people died to feed the gate; it opened permanently. Many cities fell after such an invasion. However, people discovered that it was possible to close the passage by defeating monsters and destroying a core called the Abyssal Crystal. Soon, large groups of adventurous fighters began to form at the places where the breach appeared, in order to close the passage and seize the black crystal. These heroes often gained great glory and wealth. They became idols for ordinary people, who admired their courage and thanked them for protecting them.”
“You mean to tell me that the elves also came out of such a breach?”
“It's not entirely clear that they did.”
“Why?”
“Some historians believe that it was not a breach, but rather a portal that allowed the elves to move to us from their world, which was a coincidence. Others, on the other hand, claim that the elves were responsible for all the commotion with the breach, in order to weaken the humans and attack at a convenient moment. The fact is, however, that they showed up prepared and armed in numbers as high as 50,000. The heroes who arrived recognized them as invaders from another world and clashed with them, which started the First Continental War, in which some 600,000 warriors fell. From that day on, the elves were considered mortal enemies.”
“I understand. It's not easy to forgive an eternal enemy. In both cases, the elves chose this planet. Is it known why? Why did they want to leave their home?”
“Hardly anyone was interested in it, but the books mention that their home planet was about to be destroyed, which could have led to the extinction of the entire species. In desperation, the elves decided to open a portal to another inhabited world to save themselves.”
“Fleeing misfortune, they themselves became misfortune for another world, which hated them for it.”
“If it had all ended in one war, maybe in time they could have reached an agreement with the natives. The elves sought a peaceful resolution to the conflict. However, the humans refused to give up and united against the elves in the Second Continental War. The effects of this several-year struggle were felt for centuries to come. Many people died, too many... Losses were estimated in the millions. A third of the continent's population died in this merciless war, and its aftermath killed another half. Human civilization was on the verge of collapse, and monsters began to dominate over larger and larger areas. I can't even imagine how difficult life must have been in those days.”
Elrianthe silently contemplated the story told by Alison. With the history of the world from her previous life in mind, she was able to imagine the difficulties the people of the planet had to face at that time. Finally, Alison interrupted her thoughts again.
“Can I ask you something?”
Elrianthe nodded in confirmation.
“Your name... I mean... which family do you belong to?” asked Alison timidly.
“Atlanta,” replied Elrianthe, glancing at the name appearing on her status.
Alison felt confused after hearing the answer. She didn't expect to ever meet someone from the very top of the elven hierarchy. Although the name of the elven royal family was a taboo subject, Alison, thanks to her stubbornness, arrived at this information while she was still serving in the chapel.
A smile finally dawned on her face. She stood up from her seat, knelt before Elrianthe, and pledged her lifelong devotion.
“I place myself fully at your disposal, Your Majesty,” she said.