I read through the description of the trait again. It doesn’t actually mention that I killed someone, but if anyone asks me what it means, what should I say? I’m going to have to lie, I can’t come out and say “Oh, yeah, the System gave me a gold sticker for homicide.”
I’m going to need to straight up bullshit. Tell them I took a survey or something. The only people who know what the trait is really about would also be murderers, so if they know I’m lying, I’ll just run. As for what [Analysis] is, it sounds like it will give me descriptions of things. That would be nice, I wouldn’t have to keep making conjectures about things all the time.
I shake my head and file it under one more thing I want to know more about. For the next…
[00:02:04:32]
…all I need to focus on is getting my last level.
I begin walking again, heading in what I think is a new direction. While I do, I peruse my updated skills, keeping half an eye on the forest around me. ‘Status.’
Name: Kira Uhrmacher
Level: 4
Race: Human
Affinity: Time
HP: 24/24
Mana: 3/46
Time: 0/49
Stats:
Unassigned Points: 6
STR 10
END 11
PER 12
INT 20
VIT 12
WIL 4
AGI 12
WIS 18
Titles: [N/A]
Traits: [Passed Down Through the Centuries], [Nothing But Time], [In a Split Second], [Badge of Participation]
Abilities:
Passive: [Weight of Time],
[Split Second] (New)
Active:
[Unbound Eyes of Time] (New)
[Extended Moment of Clarity] (New)
[Improved Mana Manipulation] (New)
Skills: [Restorative Meditation]
‘Split Second.’
[Split Second] [Unique] [Tier 2]: You have felt the hand of Time upon your life path multiple times and are known to Time. Once per week, Time itself will intervene in a situation to delay your imminent death by a second. Activation of this ability is passive and does not consume stored Time.
[CURRENT COOLDOWN]: [7] days
The name of the ability didn’t change, but the description definitely did. From once a month, to once a week, almost 4 times as often. I remember the feeling of the gong echoing through me and shudder slightly, almost imagining I can still hear it. It definitely saved my life.
Will the cooldown improve every time it gets triggered? If it went from a month to a week, the next logical step is a day, which seems insanely powerful, although I don’t know why the ability would use human units of time. Is that the conceptual part of my affinity at work? Actually, if the System is truly alien, why does it use hours and seconds? No, that would be like asking why it uses English, it wants us to understand it so it uses something we can comprehend easily. Not everyone speaks English though, so does the System display itself in whatever language the specific person is fluent in? It has to, but wouldn’t that mean it already knew what languages everyone knew before the ‘datamining’ process even began-SHIT!
My foot catches on a root sticking out of the dirt and I trip. Already a reflex, I try to turn on [Moment of Clarity] before I truly realize what’s happening, but I’m out of Time and so I fall bow first into the dirt.
I scramble off of it quickly and look over it. Thankfully, I didn’t seem to damage it. I sigh and decide to get through the rest of my abilities while I’m sitting down so I don’t end up stabbing myself somehow while looking at blue screens. ‘Unbound Eyes of Time.’
[Unbound Eyes of Time] [Rare] [Tier 2]: You are familiar with the paths Time takes. You have gained the ability to watch as it eddies and swirls through your surroundings, even while you are being distracted. What mysteries does it hide amongst its sands?
* This ability comes from the Affinity [Time]
* Mana Cost (0.5/min)
Functionally the same, then, except not as draining to use. I’ll take it, considering I didn’t get any actual new abilities. Not really like I have a choice, either. Next one up is ‘Extended Moment of Clarity.’
[Extended Moment of Clarity] [Rare] [Tier 2]: Being able to take a moment or two in strenuous situations and think is a blessing itself.
* This ability comes from the Affinity [Time]
* Time Cost (Base:5, cost increases based on duration of ability)
I narrow my eyes. The slight change in description, from one moment to two, and the ‘extended’ part of the name makes it seem like a simple maximum duration increase, but I don’t want to assume anything is what it seems with this System. I want to get enough Time to try the ability myself. When I first tested out [Moment of Clarity], I cut off the ability early and so I didn’t learn that the ability would end when I got to a certain point.
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If the waterbender had been more willing to get her hands dirty while her water sphere was charging up, then that would have been it for me. I would have been drowned… again. That’s odd, right? Like, that's a lot of drowning. Granted, in one of those times the water was being controlled by a sentient being, and one of those times I imagined the whole thing, so really there was only one accidental almost drowning incident, but still. It’s strange that one person would be at risk of falling victim to the same death so many times. I feel like if I turn the wrong corner I’ll get jumped by a waterfall.
You have [00:02:00:00] left to complete your required SAD objectives. Make sure you finish in time!
Ha.
You’re being paranoid, Kira. Water’s not out to get you, the System is.
I shake my head and sigh. I need to review my last ability and get moving. ‘Improved Mana Manipulation.’
[Improved Mana Manipulation] [Common] [Tier 2]: The most essential hallmark of having an affinity is the ability to use affinity-flavored mana. Time is a demanding teacher, however, and only accepts the best. Under its rigorous tutelage, your control of your mana has flourished.
* This ability comes from the Affinity [Time]
* Mana Cost (cost increases based on duration of ability)
Rigorous tutelage? I snort. Yeah, right. More like throwing a few sentences at me and leaving me to figure things out for myself.
Still, increased control is definitely something I can use. How much mana do I have to work with…
Mana: 4/46
Time: 0/49
Great. Fantastic. I absolutely need to get my regen up. At this rate… even if I didn’t use my mana for the rest of the first challenge, I wouldn’t fill up my bar. And there’s no way I’ll be able to kill anything without mana.
I could always try and meditate-
a triangular face in the water, empty holes where there should be eyes, a mouth full of jagged teeth wanting to rip and slice-
Nope.
Considering what just happened, I’d probably see-
…
I’m not going to meditate unless I have to. I clearly can’t pull myself out of it in time. Although, maybe adding to willpower will help that?
Logically, it might. I probably should have considered adding to willpower before, but I found it difficult to believe that allocating a few points would suddenly make everything… better.
And yet.
The idea is so tempting.
I desperately want it to be that easy.
My mind, cursed with never being able to shut the fuck up, ruins my fantasy almost immediately. I gained two points in strength over the last two levels (which confirms that the automatic stat gains are on a rotation), but I didn’t suddenly become jacked.
The System can clearly modify bodies, so it would have no problem adding some definition to my frame if it wanted to. I can think of a couple possibilities for why it didn’t, mainly that either the stat gains are all contained in System-data, so it just adds its own power if some twig with a high strength starts swinging an axe around, or the stat gains are really, really small.
Agh, I need more information.
It looks like the number of free stat points also dropped, from 4 per level to 3 per level. I'll split up my 6 by putting 4 points into wisdom for that sweet, sweet mana and 2 points into willpower, because maybe the System will have mercy on me and it will be helpful.
Yeah, not likely, but I need to at least try. ‘Assign 4 points to WIS, 2 points to WIL.’
You have asked to assign [4] of your unassigned stat points to [WIS]. Confirm selection? [Y/N]?
You have asked to assign [2] of your unassigned stat points to [WIL]. Confirm selection? [Y/N]?
‘Yes, yes. Confirm.’
I look at my updated values.
Name: Kira Uhrmacher
Level: 4
Race: Human
Affinity: Time
HP: 24/24
Mana: 04/54
Time: 0/51
Stats:
STR 10
END 11
PER 12
INT 20
VIT 12
WIL 6
AGI 12
WIS 22
Still kind of pathetic. I look down at the bow I’m holding. It has been a few years, but maybe it’s like riding a bike. I stand up and pull out an arrow.
Okay, so, hold the bow with my dominant hand and draw the string back- nope, that doesn’t feel right. I draw with my dominant hand instead, and the bow definitely doesn’t wobble as much. It’s a hell of a lot harder to draw than the bows I remember, though. Is it supposed to be like this? Or does it need to be broken in, like a new pair of heels?
I nock my arrow anyway. There isn’t a place to rest the arrow when I am aiming it, so I end up using my hand after trying to get it to balance on the handle for a bit. I look around me for a target. There are trees, and more trees, so I pick one at random and raise the bow so the arrow is cheek level. I remember seeing posters with people having a drawn bow and arrow fletching right next to their face, so this much I’m at least confident in.
I draw, pulling the arrow back as far as I can. I aim as best as I can, then… I release.
*THWACK*
“OW! Motherfucking god fucking shit fuuuuuck,” I hiss, dropping the bow and holding onto my arm where the string snapped me, leaving a stinging pain. The arrow goes wide, somehow both higher than where I was aiming and farther to the left.
My fingers hurt, too, so I take a look. The skin is a little raw where the arrow was resting, which makes sense considering how fast it flew off the bow.
I pick up the bow then stomp over to where the arrow landed, having smacked sideways into a tree and fallen onto the forest floor. I pick it up and glare at it. Unlike me, it looks no worse for the wear. I stuff it angrily back into my quiver, then continue marching into the woods.
Definitely not like riding a bike.
If it comes to it, I’ll bash people over the head with the bow. It’s at least heavy enough for that.
Darkness slowly begins to fall as I walk. The woods were already creepy enough, and now my head keeps snapping around every time I think I see movement.
Who knows, the shadows actually are lengthening. If there was something in them, I wouldn’t be able to see it.
Maybe night time is when the real monsters come out. Not the squirrels or the foxes, but the blood-sucking abominations the System has been keeping in hiding.
I pick up the pace, accelerating into a fast walk.
Maybe they’re watching you.
Jogging.
Right.
Sprinting.
Now.
Certainty begins hollowing out my stomach as my breath starts coming in gasps. And yet, I can’t turn around, because I know that if I turn around I’ll slow down, and I can already feel their hot panting on the back of my neck and if I stop running then they’ll catch m-
A single high note breaks into my mind, grabbing my attention. I slow down, the miasma of fear disappearing like the noise is a sun beam shining into my ears.
I turn around, confused. How far did I run? And is someone… singing?