I woke up with my head resting on Velatha's shoulder. She was still sleeping peacefully with a goofy smile on her face. Her hand, on the other ... hand, had wandered down and was currently grabbing my butt. A quick look through the window showed that it was still early. I gently freed my left arm and pulled Vel into a hug, she stirred slightly and threw her other arm around me but continued to sleep like a log otherwise.
I gave her a small peck on the lips and settled back in for a few more minutes of sleep.
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> Skill Herbalism has reached rank 2, level 24 (+1 level)
> Skill Alchemy has reached rank 3, level 19 (+1 level)
> Skill Medicine has reached rank 2, level 26 (+2 levels)
Over the next few days, I settled back into a comfortable routine. The work wasn't too hard and it gave me some space to find my bearings again. I spent a lot more time with Vel, we were practically stuck together most of the time. My bedroom had become our bedroom very quickly, she had even moved her possessions next to mine. Both of our parents had acted like it was a foregone conclusion and Vel's had made her promise to come by every once in a while.
I used the time to train my skills, desk duty was perfect to study the thick volumes of anatomy and alchemy I needed to go through as part of my apprenticeship. It was possible to improve knowledge skills by practice, like all other skills, but it was slow compared to reading a book. I could also have used some essence to level them but it was a precious resource.
Instead I looked at the available essence perks, they would likely be a better long term investment.
Essence Well (Cost: 32 ES 24 ES, 3 ranks)
Requirements: [overridden]
Increase the amount of essence every level by 1/2/3.
Increase the amount of essence every 5 levels by 2/4/6.
Increase the amount of essence every 10 levels by 3/6/12.
Essence Absorption (Cost: 32 ES 24 ES, 3 ranks)
Requirements: [overridden]
When killing a monster, gain 1/2/3 essence per rank if it grants experience.
I had three levels left to go, for a total of 16. Two base essence for each level, four every five levels, and six every ten levels. The last two converge at level 20.
Taking Essence Well would take the amount to … 3x3+6+9 … 24.
To get to that level, I would normally need to kill around twenty four monsters of my level. Probably more due to the experience penalty for killing familiar monsters, which were most of them in the training grounds. Rounding it up to thirty gives me 30 essence for the next hunt, slightly better.
Maybe there's a way to min-max it even more …
I need 10 more essence to buy both. If I pick Well first, it will be when I hit level 20. But if I pick Absorption first, I can get that amount in a bit less than two levels if my estimations are correct. Then I can benefit from both for the kills that get me the rest of the way there.
Might as well put the theory to the test.
> Purchased Essence Absorption for 24 ES
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After breakfast, I gave Vel one last hug. She disappeared in the morning crowd and I headed towards the community center. It was my free day of the week. I didn't have much to do except slouch in one of the beanbags and read books all day, which suited me well.
As I was about to go in, Meriel, the head teacher, beckoned me over with a slight frown on her face. The woman was a head smaller than me but, despite that, I still felt like a kid in her presence.
"Good morning Liscura," she said, "how are you feeling today dear?"
"A bit tired," I said with a yawn.
"The night is meant for sleeping," she said with a teasing smile.
I hid my blush behind my book. Vel and I had been … very enthusiastic last night, probably a bit too much.
"How can I help you?" I asked, very obviously changing the subject.
"Can I ask you a favor? I know it's your free day but …"
I motioned for her to go on with a smile, I didn't mind helping her at all.
"Salihn is skipping again," she said, "her and her band of rascals."
Salihn was a well known hellion in the village, along with her two friends Folen and Nym, they created chaos and kept the guards on their toes. Since she knew where the line was, it was mostly tolerated.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"You want me to impress upon them the importance of attendance?" I asked.
"You always seem to leave an impression on them," she said with a grin full of mischief.
"I'll bring them back then," I said with a sly grin, "maybe it will be a good reminder."
"Good hunt Lis," Meriel gave me a salute.
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Salihn and her little band were known to hang out in the willow courtyard. The large weeping willow which gave it its names was a heaven for kids to play in. I opted to travel there by the rooftops, a manner favored by guards and scouts, and a good way to flex my parkour skills. After more than a week without exercise, it was good to flex my muscles a bit. Traversing between buildings in this way was exhilarating and a fun fast-paced puzzle. I had mapped the best routes over time but the village was ever changing.
I jumped and grabbed a wooden strut, the move would have torn the arm off a human but was no effort for me, I hoisted myself up and used another wall to reach the next roof. I could see the willow nearby and Salihn was there with her friends. I quietly approached the edge of the roof and pushed my senses towards them.
"Alrighty boss," I heard Folen say, "what are we doing today?"
"I heard from my mom that the kitchens are preparing Crystal Hawk meat today," she said.
The group started to whisper among themselves. I had an inkling of what they wanted to do. Crystal Hawk was a delicacy and they wanted to snatch some for themselves early. I dropped to ground level and snuck closer. I knew my stealth skill was much higher than their perception.
When I was close enough, I dropped stealth. I saw Nym's eyes widen as he spotted me.
"What are you three plotting …" I said with a sigh.
"Scatter!" Salihn shouted.
The three little rascals all ran in different directions.
The game was on. I took off after Salihn, if I got my hands on the leader the rest would fall in line fairly quickly. She had already disappeared in the small alleyways between buildings, their small twists and turns would have given her a small advantage in losing me if I hadn't been using my tracking skill.
At the first corner, I jumped and kicked against the wall to reach roof height. There, corners made little difference. I continued to follow her track, the small boot marks she left in the dirt, disturbed bushes, the small of freshly trampled grass, every step she took led me to her. To the inevitable.
I used the wall of a two story building to redirect my path. Salihn had made a fatal mistake, she had taken a long alley with only two entrances. She was almost to the next intersection when I dropped in front of her.
Her eyes widened and she tried to reverse course at the last moment but I jumped forward and grabbed her by the stomach.
"Damn," she deflated.
"Nice try but you'll need more than that to lose me," I said as I jumped back to the rooftops.
I kept her along my side like a sack of potatoes. I returned to the willow and followed the other tracks at a more sedate pace. I knew Nym and Folen wouldn't have fled too far. They were fiercely loyal to their friend and the three would certainly make for an excellent group of scouts in the future.
As I approached a hiding place, I jumped back to the rooftops. Salihn wriggled a little bit but she wouldn't warn him. Cheating was heavily frowned upon and this whole thing was, in the end, a game. I dropped behind Folen without a sound. He was hiding behind a stack of crates, watching for any movement in the alley.
I tapped him on the head and he squealed in fright.
"Got you," I said.
Once he got his heart under control, I offered him my hand and he took it without protest. I also let my other passenger to the ground and she took my other hand.
Following the third track, I had Salihn and Folen use their own tracking skill alongside mine. They managed to find most of the clues but stumbled right at the finish line.
"Nym's behind the barrel," Salihn pointed where the obvious track ended and Folen nodded.
"Is he now?" I asked out loud.
I let the girl go to check the hiding spot and the expression on her face when she found nothing made me chuckle. When she realized Nym had left an obvious trace behind and vanished, she deflated.
"I think he's hiding …"
I picked up a small pebble from the ground and flicked it towards one of the balconies.
"Ow," the voice of Nym came from above.
"Up there."
This time, both of them looked at me with awe.
I brought the three of them back to school. Meriel was waiting for us, it had only been half an hour at most since I had left. Their shiver at seeing the usually cheerful teacher wearing a stern gaze was worth a chuckle.
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At the end of the day, I met back up with Vel. She gave me a very passionate kiss.
"Did you miss me that much?" I asked.
"I always miss you," she said as she hugged me.
Hand in hand, we slowly made our way through the village with no real direction. One thing that had been percolating ever since I had woken up was ... me, or more precisely the subject of reincarnation. I had ignored it for some time but I couldn't bury it forever. I had all the memories and feelings of Liscura, in addition to my old life, and I genuinely loved Vel. But I felt a bit guilty about hiding it from her.
Maybe it was time for me to come clean, even if it meant potentially losing her. The longer I left the thought to fester, the worse the result.
"What's bothering you?" Vel asked. "I know that look, it's something serious."
"Vel," I started, "there's ... something important I want to tell you. There was … something happened while I was sick and …"
"Does it have to do with your recovery and blessing?" She asked.
"I think so, yeah."
"So, what happened?"
"I think Liscura … I … died," I said, Vel raised an eyebrow, "I don't really remember, the fever was so strong, but it felt so real." Vel tried to hug me but I stepped back. "When I woke up, I was … someone else. I had the memories of Liscura but I wasn't, it's … strange to explain."
"What do you mean her memories?" Vel looked at me puzzled. "Yeah, you were a bit off for a few days but …"
"I think it was the two of us … merging," I said, "or absorbing, or something."
"So … who are you? If you aren't … you? Lis."
"I remember another life, on another planet, one with no system, no dungeon, no magic. I think I died there too and found my way into this body … somehow."
"That's …" Vel paused. "We should ask Breknir, if there's someone who can tell, it will be him."
She stepped closed and hugged me, I tried to shy away but she didn't let me.
"As for me," she said in my ear, "I think you're still you. New soul or not, doesn’t make a difference. If Gaia thought you needed a soul transplant to survive then I'm sure she knew what she was doing. You're still the friend I fell in love with, even if you remember a whole other life, you're still … maybe not the exact same but … it's good enough for me."
I let out a shudder. The tension drained from me and I returned the embrace.
"Thanks," I let out a small sob.
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Breknir watched the both of us with a skeptical look on his face. Vel had dragged me to him and recounted my incoherent rambling to him. He spent a few minutes questioning me on things, what my old world was like, what I remembered from this life, how I had felt when waking up.
"Very unusual. Your story is too coherent to be a mere hallucination from the ghost fever. It could explain how you recovered so well. A divine intervention. The boon bestowed upon you is consequent as well, powerful."
"Isn't anyone bothered?" I asked, a bit hysterical.
"Matters of the soul are complex," Breknir said, "it is the domain of clerics and necromancers, few others study it. And even if I knew how to somehow identify a soul, what good would it do me as I have nothing to compare it against?"
"Liscura," he continued, "the system still identifies you as yourself, it is likely the best confirmation you can get. Anything else is pure speculation and perhaps not worth dwelling on."
"See," Vel squeezed my hand, "you’re still you. Just with some extras." Then, she gave me a mischievous grin. "If anything, it made you really good at ..."
I slapped my hand on her mouth before she could finish.
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It took a while for me to completely calm down. Vel seemed to understand and she simply held me in her arms. She dragged me to a quiet spot, hidden out of the way near the edges of the village where a small stream from the bath house made its way out.
"Are you feeling better?" Vel asked.
"Yes," I said, "I feel a bit stupid too. To have freaked out over it."
"No, you're not stupid," she nestled her head in the crook of my neck. "I think I would have felt the same, you know. It's a bit scary to think about, really."
"And you're still sure … about us?"
"Absolutely certain," she kissed the back of my neck and I felt shivers go down my spine.