Chapter Six- First Day In A New World Part 2
She watched on as he pondered the question. “I think it might be best if you checked it out here,” Mark said, after taking a moment to think. “We’ve probably been here at least an hour, and I haven’t seen any predators, or even creatures in general. For the moment we’re safe enough, I believe, but I'll keep watch while you check out your class status. Be prepared when opening it for the first time though. It’s a little startling.” Seems a sound enough plan, she thought. “Sounds good, I’ll get started.” She replied, and he nodded his head in agreement. Lili sat in an upright position and crossed her legs. Open status, she thought, and a portion of her vision was overlaid suddenly by the window.
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Select which status you wish to view:
Lilliana Katuunka, Oceli female, Class level 1
Mark, Human male, Class level 1
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Knowing she was working on a time frame, she quickly selected herself, and then the class section of her status page.
Class Status page:
Name: Lilliana Katuunka
Species: Oceli
Class title: Curse Queen Of The Northern Lakes [lvl 1][Unique Class]
Class Affinity: Curse [lvl 1]
Class description: You are the ruler of curses, and they bend to your will. You wield immense power in these curses, and can take down even the most powerful of beasts, granted the right opportunity and defense. Your curses are powerful, but you yourself are vulnerable.
Class skills: [4]
Grimoire [lvl 1]:
This skill allows you to replicate any curse you have or will come across. The curse’s name and function is documented within your grimoire, and can be accessed in the ‘Grimoire’ tab of your status page.
Curse Negation[lvl 1]:
Dispel any curse you’ve cast. [Mana cost 5]
Dispel any curses applied by others. [Mana cost 20]
Curse Reversal [lvl 1]:
Using this active skill on a curse causes the initial effect of the curse to be reversed, effectively causing the opposite effect to occur. [Mana cost 15]
First Curse [lvl 1]:
The first curse from any of your wide array of options to be applied to a target will have its effects amplified by 5%. Skill effect grows by a static 1% every 5 levels.
Affinity Skills: [2]
Curse [lvl 1]:
Spend mana to apply a curse from your grimoire. You have access to the two basic curses Immediately. [Mana cost varies per curse]
Cursed item [lvl 1]:
Give an item the ability to apply one curse from your grimoire, under a condition of your choosing. [Mana cost varies per curse]
Passive General Skills: [6]
Tevician (Language) [Max lvl]:
You have a complete understanding of the Tevician language.
English (Language) [Max lvl]:
You have a complete understanding of the English language.
Pyrosa Standard (Language) [Max lvl]:
You have a complete understanding of the standard language of the pyrosan continent.
Woodland Rhetoric (Power tongue) [Max lvl]:
You have a complete understanding of the language of sentient woodland creatures large and small. Be careful with your words, because you cannot lie.
Slentithi (Power Tongue) [Max lvl]:
You have a complete understanding of the language of the wyverns, drakes, and dragons, as well as their followers. Utilize caution speaking this tongue, lest you attract unwanted attention.
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Energy Sense [lvl 2]
You can detect the energy flow of the world around you. Ability scales with skill level.
Active General Skills:[1]
Identify[lvl 1]
Grants very basic information about any item you touch. [Mana Cost 1]
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Wow, she thought. Does this mean that the Indigo eye plague was actually this… curse thing? The thought of wielding such deadly power was not exactly high on her list of things that she wanted to do, but she supposed it could have been worse. She could have been given some sort of disease-based class. At least she would have completed discretion over whom or what she cursed. Quickly, she checked the Grimoire tab to see the basic curses she had the ability to apply.
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Grimoire:
Tier One Curses:[2]
Discombobulate:
Upon application your opponent becomes clumsy and uncoordinated. Depending on enemy level and power in comparison to your own, the effect may be diminished. [Mana cost 5]
Minor Health drain:
Upon application, drain a small amounts of your target’s lifeforce over time. Can only be applied once per target. [Mana cost 10]
Unique Curses:[1]
The Indigo Eye:
Your target will only survive the pain if they can muster up the will to kill you first. Causes an immensely slow and painful death. [Mana cost 2000]
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Lili blanched. She hadn’t expected that she would have the ability to use the Indigo eye plague as a weapon. She tried not to think about it. “I’ve read it,” she said. “Let’s get moving.”
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They had set off into the woods at about noon, identifying and cautiously collecting various plants that they thought might be edible and had been walking for about an hour when they heard the sound of crashing waves. Cutting carefully through a break in the treeline, they came to the edge of a vertical cliffside, going as far in either direction as the eye could see. Colorful seabirds roosted happily in crevices within the craggy rock, and the Ocean stretched on and on, with no other land in sight. It’s so serene, thought Mark as he sat on a fallen log overlooking the sea. “Let’s take a break,” he said, gesturing for Liliana to sit. He unslung the pack from his shoulders and removed the waterskin and jerky, not willing to potentially poison himself just yet. Separating a piece of the jerky out of the little bundle, he passed the rest to her. Then he opened the waterskin and took a big swig of the water. His throat, dry just a minute before, now felt refreshed. Ripping off a bite of jerky with his teeth, he passed the waterskin to Lilliana, who accepted gratefully. They sat in silence for about five minutes, enjoying the beautiful weather and idyllic scenery.
“What did you do on Earth, Mark?” Lilliana asked him. “I was an Ecological surveyor,” he replied. “It was my job to certify that no rare or endangered species of animals were at risk when companies wanted to build on a piece of undeveloped land. “That‘s actually what I was on my way to do when I died,” he added. “The ship I was on got sucked into a massive whirlpool that had formed around some kind of obelisk. I imagine you can figure out what happened next.” Then she asked a question that she had been dying to know the answer to. “If there was no mana, how did anything function? Who healed the sick, or rejuvenated dying fields during a drought?”
He thought about it for a second, and then he said, “Things didn’t always run perfectly, you’re right. But we had people called doctors and nurses, who would train for years in order to gain the ability to help people. For the most part, they were able to diagnose exactly what was wrong with somebody, and treat them for it using chemical medications. People who were injured in an accident would have their wounds cleaned and stitched up, then bandaged. “As for droughts, we almost always had enough water for our fields, because we built great machines and used them to redirect rivers and streams.” Lilliana listened in rapt fascination as he explained. “Eventually we learned how badly it could mess up an ecosystem, but by that point it was too late, and we already relied too heavily on the water supplied by the dammed off reservoirs to go back. When I died there were too many countries for the average person to remember them all and almost nine billion humans spanned the whole planet.”“Before I died,” Lili replied, her eyes wide, “The most recent census taken only reported about forty million Ocelis on the entire continent!”
That surprised him a little. “Were there other sentient species on Amuvita?” he asked. “Quite a few,” she replied. “There were at least twenty, but the most notable on my continent in terms of population, besides the Ocelis were the Dryads, Arakis, and Slytheen, who each had a population of about ten million. Were there not others on earth?” “There weren’t any that humans knew of. Plenty of highly intelligent animals though.” he replied, his mind whirling.
He was about to ask her what she did on her world, when he abruptly felt a large energy signature whistling towards them from above. He leapt to his side and tackled Lilliana back into the treeline. “What are you”- She protested for a split second before a massive bird swooped directly past where they had been seated near the edge. -“Oh.” Damn thing’s the size of a car! He thought, breathing heavily. They watched on as it pulled out of the dive about twenty feet above the frothing surf at the base, gaining height, and began making a wide turn back towards them. “Oh Fuck,” he said, stumbling to his feet and pulling a deeply startled Lilliana up after him. “It’s coming back, we need to go!”
She shook herself, but right as they started to turn to run deeper into the forest, the ocean exploded. In the midst of the explosion, the largest creature Mark had ever seen arose from the depths. It marginally resembled the great dragons represented in fantasy stories, but the tail was flattened considerably for easier movement through water. That, and it lacked wings, though it didn’t seem to matter as the upper half of the creature’s body erupted past the water’s surface. It's great maw swallowed the bird whole, and the small part of his brain that hadn't immediately been frozen in terror activated Aquatic Analysis.
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Aquatic Analysis Activated:
Greater Water Dragon:
Size: Massive
Diet: Predatory (Ambush Hunter)
Intelligence: High
Strengths Observed:
Raw physical strength and size.
Maneuverable in water.
Weaknesses:
None observed
Best Course Of Action:
Run.
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That snapped him out of it. Before the water dragon had even fallen all the way back into the sea, he had grabbed the bag and his partner's hand, and together they booked it into the forest. When they had run for about half an hour, he gained a little confidence in the idea that it wasn’t following them. If it was, he reasoned, we’d be dead. They collapsed against a tree, exhausted. “Let’s stay away from the coast.” he said, and she nodded, the color only now returning to her face. “Yeah.”