I called up my status,

[ Name: Ryan Crestwood

Class: Arch Druid of Renewal / * / * / *

Level: 1

XP: 0

Race: Kaldorei (Azeroth 1,358,374)

Racial Traits: Swift, Increased Senses, Shadowmeld, Unbroken, Primal Heart

Stats - Body: 5 / Reflex: 10 / Tech: 4 / Intelligence: 5 / Cool: 8 / Will: 7 / Spirit: 12 / Psi Resonance: 9 / Divinity: 1 (Faith:50)

Cyberware: None

( Nature's Blessing effect: + 8 to all Stats, increased energy ) Not Active

Abilities - Sense Mana / Ley Line Sight / Shape Mana / Shapeshift: Serpent / Shapeshift: Lesser Treant

Skills - Rituals: 6 / Concentration: 10 (Evolving) / Firearms: 7 / Bargaining: 9 / Administration: 6 / Leadership: 5 / Mechanics: 8 / Engineering: 5

Auras - Life Control: 3

Druid Spells - Life Control: 5 / Purify: 8 / Nature's Blessing: 10 (Evolving) / Renew the Cycle: 1 / Reincarnate

Free Points: 0 / Company Points: 100,000 / Task Points: 0 / Eddies: 27,000,000

Curses: Soul Damage, Lost Thoughts, Broken Heart ]

Honestly, I was surprised to see that I had been left with that much. Ooh, a nice pile of Eddies stood out, though how I was supposed to access them, I couldn't say.

So I had somehow gained the body of a Night Elf. That seemed like a huge advantage, though I as yet had no clue what those traits would do, they were quite interesting. Shadowmeld was probably like what happened to the Probes once they became Wisp Infused, but that was not certain. Experimentation would be required.

Hmm. My mana also seemed much more potent despite the lower stats. I cycled it through my body a few times. Yes, much thicker though that was probably not the right way to put it. Denser, maybe. Another benefit of the Kaldorei?

The addition of Curses was disheartening. Soul Damage was plain enough, that was left over from the process of removing my former classes.

I shuddered, remembering the torment of those moments.

"Never again." I growled softly.

Could I find a way to add new ones? Maybe seal the holes?

Lost Thoughts was probably from whatever had screwed with my memory. Lethe Water? There were still gaps in my life here and there, also faces and names I couldn't recall quite yet. Time might solve that problem though.

Broken Heart was the most troubling. Was that about Sally and Megan... Ingrid and Velma. Did that really fuck me up so badly that it registered as a curse? Or was it something else entirely?

Well, it wasn't all bad, at least I had gotten out from under the influence of Voice of the Emperor. Other than still possessing a stat related to Divinity.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

'Try to stay positive,' I thought to myself.

Example, I was positive I was going to break my foot off in someone's ass over all this. Heh.

I shook it off, for now.

"Move forward, even if you don't know where it will lead. Standing still makes you a target, " John said that to me once, while we were training. It made more sense now.

I reached out to the vined covered Pillar.

[ Ryan's Hub Options

Mana Density: 3

Time remaining until mandatory expulsion: 5 hours 15 minutes

Current Stay Duration Limit: 24 hours

Current Cooldown between Entries: 96 hours

Raise Level

Merge Classes

Merge Skills

Merge Abilities

Initiate Task System

Ransom Allies ]

When I saw that last entry I roared, "Fuckers!"

My eyes narrowed and my lip pulled back into a snarl, even my ears tensed up.

They dared hold my people for ransom.

Red creeped into my vision and my heart sounded like a battle drum in my ears.

How I wanted to holler and rail against the whims of my antagonizers.

'Deep Breaths.' I started counting the leaves on the Jasmin vines.

I was on a clock, if I understood the time remaining properly, and I needed to get equipped before being tossed out. No time for wallowing in my own rage.

A few moments later, I pulled up their "Ransom" list.

[ Jaina Proudmoore - 100,000 Company Points

John Wick - 10,000,000 Company Points

James Raynor - 2,000,000 Company Points

Tassadar - 1,000,000 Company Points

Probius - 100,000 Company Points

Corusaltusvermilliondeku - @$*@(#$^

Meadran - 1,000,000 Company Points

Faergin - 500,000 Company Points

Korvaith - 500,000 Company Points ]

I forced myself to read it again. And then a third time.

So they didn't seem to have any of the Nomads, or Mith. That was some good news, though I worried about how Mith was doing right now.

Alina being absent was likely due to her nature as an AI, and locked to a Nexus. No reason to worry much there.

John was bleeding expensive, though that was no surprise.

I wasn't going to think about the little Dragon's entry, they were never likely to let him near me again. The Case Worker was really upset about him.

Even the Treants were there. I sighed.

They had left me with enough points to Ransom Jaina or Probius. A cruel joke, though what was one more cruelty now?

If I had to choose, it would probably be Probius. Though without a Nexus or Forges his usefulness would be limited.

Jaina would likely still have her status as an Adjutant. Meaning she'd have to stay behind when I left.

But I think I'll hold off on that for right now. I saw no need to rush, and I knew enough about Night City now, that I should be able to get by on my own for a while.

No one should be able to recognize me anyway. Thankfully Biosculpting was a very diverse practice, so no one should think much of my new appearance. though it might get me a few more attempts at rolling me for eddies.

I shrugged.

There was no adding of a Class on this list, but I could merge them. This implied I could get more somewhere else. Maybe the store?

The Task System, looked interesting.

Might as well see what that was about.

My BTC shook,

[ Welcome to the Task System

Complete basic Tasks for Points

Spend Points in the Store ]

[ Task 1 - Ongoing, Repeating

Heal 10 people

Reward: 1,000 Task Points ]

[ Task 2 - Ongoing, Repeating

Kill 10 people

Reward: 1,000 Task Points ]

[ Task 3 - Ongoing, Repeating

Fix or Adjust 10 Devices

Reward: 1,000 Task Points ]

[ Tasks depend on Classes and Skills ]

[ You have Quests ]

[ Quest 1

Find the Aldecaldos

Reward: 1,000 Company Points ]

[ Quest 2

Meet Rogue in the Afterlife

Reward: 10,000 Company Points ]

[ Quest 3 - Ongoing, Repeatable

Meet Certain People

Rewards: Varies ]

[ Quest 4 - Ongoing, Repeatable

Kill Certain People

Rewards: Varies ]

Bloody fucking hell. Generic busywork. Why must I be forced into these kinds of things.

Alright, sure, I'm probably going to do a lot of those things anyway. Might as well get paid for doing them, but it still pissed me off.

I shook my head. Focus.

I still needed to check out the other two sets of buildings, before exploring the Value Tree for gear.

The one across the road from Treeside was called Utilitree. Ugh. Who named these?

It was a bizarre amalgamation of Water works and Waste management along with being a Power Plant and Distribution Station. It was like some Ai generated image of what those things should look like all smashed together.

Across from the Value Tree was a giant warehouse, named Storage Tree. It was, not surprisingly, empty.

I stared nonplussed at the name.

Really? (AN: I hide my head in shame. Names are hard for my overworked brain.)

Beyond them was another purple grass covered field, and off in the distance, I could see another Moon Well. No help there.

Well then, I guess it was time to go shopping.