If I don’t click anything, it’ll go away…probably. I have to make a choice? Does that mean it won’t do anything to them until I make the choice? I could really use the extra help though…and it did say it would come back stronger for them, right? So there’s no harm… Okay… I’m going to do this, so what’re the best choices?

First, figure out the stats…my worst stats are constitution, strength, and dexterity… I have no idea if these girls have good con, but Jessica looks stronger and Kaylee looks like she might be fast… Yeah, let’s just go with that.

Only five skills each? All right… They both have cleaning and perception, so maybe those are more common… Cleaning and cooking make sense, given the whole maid thing. And if these two have it, perception is probably normal too. So that leaves appraisal or herbology for Jessica… I’m in the middle of the city, so not many herbs to find here. Appraisal it is! For Kaylee…diplomacy, dodging, or tailoring. I don’t have a need to fix my clothes. Diplomacy or dodging both sound pretty good… Then again, I need to talk my way into keeping my room and into the academy place, so diplomacy would probably be better.

Jessica and Kaylee kept shooting nervous looks at her as she seemed to wobble her way behind them. Of course, the fact that she was doing mental calculations about which of their stats to ‘temporarily borrow’ wasn’t really helping. Blue screens in front of your face just didn’t seem to help with the whole see where you’re going thing. Glad that she had figured out she didn’t have to wave her hands at the blue screens, she mentally ‘clicked’ on her first choices for Kaylee as she started trying to surreptitiously watch her like a hawk. A new message replaced the old window she’d been debating over.

Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Dexterity and Diplomacy from Kaylee Ivers underway.

Seriously, that was all she got? No ETA, no amount, nothing? Her eye twitched as she felt her cheeks flushing a tiny bit. Kaylee didn’t even seem to skip a beat as she walked ahead, though she was now looking a little more nervous that Jade was staring at her so intently whenever she glanced back. Whatever, go big or go home. She mentally clicked on the stats she’d chosen from Jessica as well.

Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Strength and Appraisal from Jessica Dorney underway.

Hopefully it at least tells me when it’s done… Wait, how do I even tell time here? There’s no cell phones and I haven’t seen any clocks… She was trying to mentally nudge the system to give her a digital clock, but it seemed the system didn’t care if she knew what time it was. She couldn’t even see the sun in here. I wonder if they have multiple suns…? Her thoughts straying tangentially, she almost tripped completely as she descended the last step. So it was to a graceless halt that she entered the eyes of a most formidable looking man who was glaring quite harshly at the two girls in front of her, not seeming to lessen even the slightest as the condescension seemed to ooze towards her when she came into view.

I am SO awesome at first impressions in this world…totally… Straightening up to her full height of 5’5”, she gave him her most winning smile as she tried to walk as gracefully as possible forward, sticking her hand out. “Hi! I’m Jade, the traveler.” Maybe that will strike the fear of god or whoever into him... Ignoring the need to itch her lips, she cheerfully and mostly confidently stared up at this fairly…burly hunk. Yup, I’m in trouble.

She took a brief glance, studying his face. He had awesome black swoosh hair that looked perfectly gelled back and a five o’clock shadow across his perfectly chiseled face. He was also at least 8 inches taller than her. When she met his angry dark brown eyes, she found him still staring down at her like she was an ant that had crawled on his food, ignoring her hand that was just hanging in the air like a limp fish at this point as she maintained eye contact. I will not blink first. I will not blink first. Nooooooo, I blinked first! Okay, so her macho posturing was not getting her far. Finally, he asked slowly, as if trying to mask what she would call barely, if not almost entirely not concealed, rage and scorn in his voice, “You are a traveler?”

She lost it. Completely ignoring the fact that with his bulging muscles he was pretty much twice her size, she stomped her foot--oh my gosh I can stomp my foot!--and, concealing a brief flash of unrestrained joy, dropped her hand and scoffed right back. “What, you think I wanted to come to this random world where I knew absolutely nothing and no one? Give me a break.” She casually flicked her hair, because hello, he was still really chiselled. “I was thrown into this situation and I’m just making the best of it. So you’re going to let me stay here until I’m officially accepted into the academy in two days.” When in doubt, act confident. How much could it hurt?

She was utterly insulted when that caused his facade to break, mostly because he was openly guffawing at her. “Really!? You think you’re going to pass the selection in two days?” He was literally laughing so hard he was almost crying. Hot or not, she really wanted to punch him. The only thing stopping her was the thought that she would probably end up hurting herself more. Self preservation was a thing, you know? Instead she took a step closer and poked him in the arm. She would have done the chest, but there was that whole skin to skin thing explicitly stated in her ability, and if anyone deserved to be siphoned, it was the jerk laughing at her right now.

She was gratified to see the new blinking icon in the top corner of her vision, and she smirked at him as she said simply, “I guarantee I’m going to make you eat those words.”

Sadly, he kept laughing, until he finally seemed to realize she was dead serious as she smirk-glared at him. Still in disbelief, he shook his head and seemed to spend an entire minute considering her. She just kept glaring, crossing her arms in front of her (nonexistent) chest to present a strong front. Finally, he looked to Jessica and Kaylee. “Is she really a traveler?”

Jessica and Kaylee exchanged glances, holding another one of those silent conversations that seemed to go something like ‘you say something,’ and ‘no, you!’ It looked like Kaylee lost this round, because she sighed and then turned to look at Raphael. Yeah, I know your name, you big jerk, even if you didn’t tell me yourself! Quietly, she spoke. “As far as we can tell, yes. She just appeared in one of the rooms with a bunch of stuff and she seemed…” She glanced at Jade with uncertainty, and you could just tell she was about to say something rude, like one of those things southern people said before they ended with ‘bless their soul.’ “Pretty much incompetent and lost. What other explanation is there than that she’s a traveler? You can see she’s a terrible actor.” Hey, you didn’t have to add that last part! That’s over the line...maybe… Note to self: steal someone’s deception skills. Someone’s gotta have deception skills, right? That seems like something that would be a skill here...

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

While she was half glaring and half inner monologuing, she hadn’t realized that all three of them had turned to stare/appraise her again. When she finally came to, she snapped a little waspishly, “What!?”

Raphael--who still hadn’t actually introduced himself to me, that jerk--sighed and nodded. “I can see what you mean.” He glanced at the heavens as if appealing for help, and she had to stop herself from interjecting that it hadn’t seemed to be very useful in the many years she’d done so. But hey, everyone had to learn for themselves, right? So instead she kept trying to glare at his face so that she wouldn’t check him out really obviously, because he reminded her of an Abercrombie model, if you ignored the giant sword she now saw hanging from his waist. As if maybe he found what he was looking for, he glanced back down at her and held up three fingers. “I’ll give you three days. If you haven’t been accepted by then, you have to leave.”

Somewhat insulted that he felt the need to emphasize the number 3 with his fingers like she was a child, Jade nodded and responded primly. “Fine. That’s plenty long enough to prove you wrong.” Completely ignoring the man who still hadn’t introduced himself to her, she turned to the girls. What is with these people and not introducing themselves? “Where’s the way out?” Seemingly struck mute from shock, Jessica appeared to only have the presence of mind to point.

Turning in the appointed direction, Jade did her best impression of flouncing away, which in reality was filled with a multitude of unstable wobbles. I really need to figure out how to walk properly…is there a skill for walking? Can I steal that please?

Down the hallway, she stopped for a moment, taken aback as she entered a common room filled with the soft hum of murmuring voices. Her eye twitched a little as she tried to figure out the fastest way to the door without embarrassing herself. She then tried to figure out an alternate route that still seemed like a straight shot, yet took her past the most people who had skin readily exposed.

Steeling her courage, she chose option 2. Her stilted walk gave her the excuse she needed, and she managed to casually brush against three people on her way out with only a murmured, “Sorry.” Making it the door while ignoring the sweet scent of food, she took a deep breath and ignored the flashing dots demanding attention at the side of her vision before opening it and stepping shakily into the bright sunshine. What was with this place? She had felt like a skeleton walking through the set of a Calvin Klein commercial in there. Was this a gathering place for models or something?

Sound assaulted her ears the moment the door was open, and she took a moment to adjust as the door whumped closed behind her. I would kill for a pair of sunglasses right now… Her eyes strained to adjust as she stepped to the side, not wanting to get pegged in the back should anyone else decide to leave at that moment. Eyesight too. Is there a skill I can steal that makes the sun hurt less? Grumbling internally, she looked for a safe haven where she could check her messages.

Spotting a shaded alleyway, she shambled her awkward way over to it and breathed a sigh of relief, just relaxing for a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart. I can do this. I can do hard things. She tried to mentally reassure herself for a moment before pulling up her notifications.

You have touched Raphael Millis, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...

Choose a stat to siphon: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Magic, Charisma, or Luck.

Choose a skill to siphon: Athleticism, Diplomacy, Sword, Intimidate, or Wind Magic.

Only five again? So his last name is Millis, is it? I’ll have to remember that… Oh my gosh, he has athleticism! I need to...wind magic? Raph the unnamed has wind magic? I never would have guessed… Wait, magic is a thing here? Ugh… I have to choose one. So what are the odds that magic is a super common thing? I mean, if even Raph can get it… All right, let’s check the others first.

Glancing through the other three profiles, whom she figured were probably students of the so called academy, since Jess and Kay had told her that’s who stayed there… There were a few common themes. It seemed that she was right and most people had perception. All three of them had athleticism as well, so at least she had other options. There were a bunch of combat options as well, but she figured she needed to at least learn to walk before she started throwing hypothetical punches and thus arbitrarily tossed out those options.

She had narrowed her options down by a least one on each person, trying to figure out the best combination. But again, she was only showed five options. She didn’t know if it was just arbitrarily picking five to give her or what. Either way, she’d just have to work with it apparently.

Raph: Intimidate or wind magic. The dude had seriously gotten intimidating down to an art, but she knew she was going to pick wind magic. Maybe next time she’d be able to glare scarily right back at him…

Dude 1: Athleticism, diplomacy, perception, or sleight of hand.

Dude 2: Athleticism, perception, or unarmed combat.

Chick 1: Acrobatics, athleticism, charm, or perception.

Based on her options… Charm was out, and so was unarmed combat. Who was she kidding? There was no way she was going to charm people looking like a twig, and any unarmed combat from said twig would be totally useless with the 1% which was all she was going to get. At the same time, any acrobatics would likely land her flat on her back before she got basic coordination down. Dude two seemed pretty strong, so she decided to take athletics from him. That left perception from the chick, and as for dude one… She already had diplomacy, but maybe it would be better to double down on it. She did have a lot more convincing to do...

Now that she had the skills out of the way, she went back to look at stats again. Raf was obvious, she was taking his strength. Dude 1 seemed to be the sneaky type, even though she had nothing to go off of but his skills, so she’d take his dex. The girl literally had charm in her kit, so she’d try to raise her charisma there. That left the other beefcake, and since she’d already hit the other bases, she’d see if he had a decent con score.

Satisfied with her deductions, she began to mentally confirm her decisions.

Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Strength and Wind Magic from Raphael Millis underway.

Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Dexterity and Diplomacy from Steven Cooper underway.

Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Constitution and Athletics from Travis Wainbright underway.

Siphoning complete. Assimilation of Charisma and Perception from Chloe Chambers underway.

She smiled as she saw the confirmations, then had to physically stop herself from screaming as her body seemed to start itching all over. Perhaps doing so many at once hadn’t been her greatest idea ever… She clutched her face, praying silently that it would end soon.