Chapter 1
The Leveling, Part 1
Tiras POV:
Tira, the heroic Sword Maiden, awoke in her master's bed. It was time to turn the page on a phase of her life. She would miss him after a fashion, even though she was only with Lord Lark as part of a greater destiny. The great oracle speaks, and his maidens obey. She was terrified to have a new mistress. However, Etherstaria, Lord Lark's daughter, needed her more than her father did. The daughter of a low leveled Scholar, but born under the sign of the Twisting Star, the evening or dawn of a new phase in civilization. She couldn't afford to fail. She would slaughter everything in her way. She would use everything she had for her new mistress—her sword, her sexual appeal, whatever it took!
She extended her hand to her soon-to-be ex-lover, feeling his exulted flesh one last time. Sighing, she showered, using the hot water invention of the Lark clan. Tira made sure to enjoy the hot water, and to scrub and wash her hair and body, as it would be clean cantrips for the foreseeable future. Tira got dressed, and started packing the bug-out bags for two of the young elfesses that would be under her care. Twixia's new scholar's bag was particularly heavy and expensive. It was the books, of course. She wasn't in charge of the low tier commoner's pack for Alliasaz. She would have to have a servant bring the pack, as she couldn't even pick it up. Not because it was too heavy, but because she couldn't equip low tier commoner items. The system protected kids and innocents. They would provide you with neither experience nor possessions. You couldn't even touch them through their clothing, let alone remove it. Even eating their flesh would not abate your hunger. It made for interesting interactions between hero and commoner. The other three were well enough off to have their own gear readied for them, so she didn't have to bother.
It was system day, and it was going to bring as many changes to her as it had to all the other young people who had the misfortune of having matured this year and thus would start their journeys as adults after System Day. Only heroic elves would be spared; it did not matter what their parents thought. This was the Oracle, who sent them off on their journey to being recognized as adults. Non-heroes could not refuse unless they wanted death instead. What most of them were going to be was already known. Only upper tier commoners and heroes could not be scanned with skills once they reached adulthood. Other than Star, there was just a wood elfess. Maybe she would have the fortune to be born a heroine, or maybe not. She would have Star's cousin in her wagon if the wood elf named Ray or something like that, was a heroine. Either way, she was going to be in charge of some newly minted adults on a long and dangerous journey! Dangerous, as in experience points! Tira smiled as she looked into the mirror to check her appearance. The smile was quite happy, she was sure lots of blood would be spilled on the journey! She was sick and tired of being stuck at 4th level and being a concubine. Buckling on her elven blade, she strolled past her now awake master, wearing her blood red and swirling alchemical leaf clothing, her bloodlust, and of course, her smile. Only having to lug two large backpacks, her own and Twixia's, ruined the effect.
Etherstaria's POV
Etherstaria Lark, although she normally went by Star, was dreaming. Tomorrow, she would finally meet the system! She would get to see what fate awaited her at the temple! She had waited her entire one hundred and twenty-one years for this moment! Well, not exactly, but still, this was going to be amazing! Would she have more faith powers or arcane powers? Maybe she would even have blended powers, her body containing both and her class being one of those exotic types like her father!
The Lark family was known for its arcane powers! Zap, zap, she was going to be an air mage and shoot lightning bolts at her foes! It was so exciting that she struggled to get to revelry. Her open blue eyes danced in her head, quickly shifting from one memory to the next about all of her friends getting their classes. Some of them were failures and had been commoners! That won’t happen to me though; I overheard one of the oracles talking about me when I sneaked up after the reading and said that I was going to meet the system next year after my yearly check. It was something about having a strong destiny!
"Star! "You had better get up, or hero or not, you are going to get spanked for being late for the most important day of your life!" screamed Star’s mother, Skayla.
Star jumped up, startled out of her revelry, but her body got caught in the bed sheet and she fell in a tangled heap by the side of her bed, so it was sort of a jump that just didn’t go very far. Hopefully, getting out of bed on the wrong side and onto the floor was not an indication of how this was going to go!
"Mother, what if I had injured myself?" screamed Star.
Skyla Lark POV:
A gentle sputtering laugh leaked out of Skayla Lark as she regarded her daughter, who was trying and failing to extract herself from her bedding. Quite the little heroine, indeed! "Oh, Star, I am so worried for you. You have to understand that only 10 percent of elves are born to be heroes," said Skayla. "I won’t stop loving you even if you are from a lower class. Even if the temple sends you far, far away, I will always answer your call if you need me," said Skaya, as Star finally unwound herself.
“Lets go get you all dolled up!” said Skayla. Suddenly she noticed the change in her daughter. She always had the pre system day look of elven children, but now she was different! Her hair had turned the Lark adult golden yellow shade, and her body had changed as well, she was... gorgeous! “Not that you need it now I guess”, Skayla jealously whispered to herself.
Star's POV:
Star stepped into her warmed shower, an elf invention that was paid for by the Lark clan, it was shared with even clan commoner elves like herself, who had a child with one of their heroes. She had changed overnight? She no longer had the body of a child, it was startling, bumps of a woman had grown on her chest, and hair was growing in places that had none before. She had been a child for over 121 years! She wanted this as much as the next child, but it was disorienting. She stepped out of the shower and sat down on a chair. Most children were not born on Twisting Star day, and changed more gradually. System Day was the next day, after all. Her father had used his skill on her and said she was at least an upper tier commoner!
As my mom started drying and combing my new yellow-gold hair. My mom said felt was soft and fluffy, and it was very easy to comb. She started exclaiming about when had her tomboy daughter had such amazing hair? That It seemed to flow into whatever hairstyle she tried, each one looking prettier than the last. "Mom! you are making me blush," cried Star. Skyla decided on a fancy long braid behind her daughter's head, turning it into a fairy tale princess style. Star blushed even more when she whispered in her ear, "Why do you smell like strawberries?" Star she knew it wasn’t from the bath. The luxury of the shower did not extend to expensive soaps. Her mom touched her ears while putting in a ribbon. Star shivered from her touch. What was going on? Wait, her ears had never been this long and sensitive before!
"Mother! "Don’t play with my ears like that!" said Star. "For some reason, they seem sensitive today."
"Today, and every other day, for the rest of your long life" whispered Skayla to her daughter.
"Alright, all done, Star. Let's put you in your ceremonial robes, and a clan member will escort you to the temple."
"Pff, clan member, you just mean my father, Samand," said Star.
"Be careful, my daughter; right now you are still just a little elfess with pretty hair. Don’t upset your father, as you still have a high chance of being a commoner. He will be very upset if that is the case; he is under a lot of stress right now, so don’t antagonize the elf that can break you in half with a couple of fingers. He is so very strong, so strong," sighed Skyla, wondering once again what she had done to be born a mid tier common scholar, all brains and no brawn or magic.
There was a knock on the door, and Star finished the last loops of rope on her ceremonial robes just in time! She hurried to the door and opened it.
"Daddy!" grinned Star, looking at her fully armored father with his magical black blade at his side. He was of an exotic class, having equal amounts of faith and arcane magic, a mystical swordsman type that could funnel magic into his intelligent blade, Crystaldark. "I mean, hello, clansman, and you too, Crystaldark. I present myself for judgment by the system and to see if I qualify as a heroine, as this is my system day."
Samand's POV:
Samand, looked at his daughter and thought, This is definitely looking good; she is obviously gaining statistics! Maybe this time he would have better luck, as he had only had common children so far. Surely his precious Star would not break his heart again! "Let us go, for today you will become an adult. You will be judged by the system, and then an oracle will perform a reading, no matter your station. His judgment is final, so be prepared to leave the shield of the Elven lands if that is needed. Bring your luggage with you and say goodbye to your mother in case you never see her again," replied Samand.
"Wait! "Never see her again?" wailed Star.
"Indeed, there has been a group forming recently by the oracles to go to the New Kingdom of Mankind called Starwick, to their academy. If you are a commoner, it is likely you will be headed there as well," said Samand.
"Oh, daughter," cried Skyla. "Humans are scary! If you have to leave the shield, some human monster will extinguish my poor little star."
"More likely a monster or mob," corrected Samand. "Humans don’t harm elves that often."
"No, my baby!" sobbed Skyla, holding her daughter.
"Mom, you are embarrassing me!" said Star as she hugged her mom, perhaps for the last time.
Star's POV:
Star went up to get her bug-out pack, which every elf child had in case it was needed due to a dragon attack, clan war, or something else. She was sure she had packed almost everything that existed! She grabbed a few more things she might need, including her doll, as she could not bear to lose Elfina! As long as she had her doll, she could be brave! Right, and a pillow to cry into sounded like a good idea too. In fact, she decided try this particular one out and see if it would make a good one. It passed, and she added the tear stained pillow into her bag. She also brought a towel; she had heard somewhere that they were quite useful on a journey.
Her somewhat red eyes marring her beauty, Star hugged her mom once more and set out with her father, with her hair ornaments jingling, to the temple to face her destiny! Destiny of being a heroine, she was sure of it!
The Capitol city of the Lark clan was simply gorgeous, she never tired of walking along the combination of the natural beauty and the sparkling yellow-gold buildings. The sound of water falling in the background, the musicians' songs that were playing for System Day! She song along with the epic music, not able to contain her excitement and apprehension that crashed upon her in equal measure. it was System Day! Also, she was pretty sure her chest was still expanding. All of this made walking difficult, and she had to hold onto her father occasionally for balance. The temple finally came into view.
There were about twenty elven children born in her year waiting around. Only a few had their packs, and the ones that didn’t looked at the children with packs with alarm. There were a lot of cries from the children who weren't tipped off by their clan as they didn’t have a heroic parent, presumably. Maybe the packs were only given to children that had a better chance to become heroes? She looked at the elves around her and noticed a lot of them looked pretty dull. A high level of charisma was not a common statistic after all. It was a throwaway statistic in most people's builds. Good looks wouldn’t stop a monster from eating you; in fact, it would do the opposite. She had heard stories that dragons would often pick out a comely elfess and fly off with her, and that was that. She was going to be eaten, or worse, wasn’t she? She waved at Grey and Blue, her cousins, who stared at her as they were having trouble even recognizing the new butterfly that had emerged overnight.
Since her attention was focused on the twins, the oracle had call her name more than once before she realized that Etherstaria was actually her name. Slowly, she climbed the 100 steps representing 100 years of childhood to being an adult, (Grey elven noble children took longer than 100 years due to a longer lifespan than the more common High elves) to the oracle and the screen that would decide her fate! Everyone looked on, probably thinking how presumptuous she was. Etherstaria was sure they were all laughing at her nervousness, and her with her pack and fancy clothes and hair and everything. They were just waiting for her to fail so they could laugh out loud at her!
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She was going to fail! She knew it in her heart. There is no way she could be one of the elite, one of the chosen. Then she was there. At least she had not fallen down the stairs or something. She jumped a bit when the Oracle spoke. His milky white eyes no longer saw the mortal world, but fate itself somehow.
"Etherstaria, of clan Lark, just look at the screen and say Status, and your fate in this lifetime will be revealed!" said the oracle, as he gently smiled at her reaction.
"Status!" said Star, sounding way more confident than she felt!
A screen appeared before her and scrolled as she read it.
Your starting statistics are as follows:
Strength Dexterity Health Intelligence Will Charisma Appearance -1 1 -1+ 1 0+ 1+ 1+
Your class is the common noble.
For being an upper-tier commoner, you gain your race statistics!
You gain starlight vision!
You gain a bonus of 10% to the perception skill!
You gain access to the Elven Presence ability once per level, which adds 10% to charisma skills for a turn! This damages you by one non-lethal hit point.
You gain an advancement in dexterity!
You gain an advancement in intelligence!
You gain one skill point!
You lose an advancement in health!
Your hit points are set to 4 (down from 5) for your health modifier.
Your base attack is 0+.
You gain a 10% bonus to will saves.
You gain the common weapon ability.
You gain Elven martial weapon abilities.
You gain the Elven exotic weapons ability.
You gain the ability to wear advanced commoner light armor.
You gain the ability to use advanced common items.
You gain the ability to learn a total of 10 skill points.
You gain access to all heroic charisma skills!
You gain access to a limited number of heroic knowledge specialties!
You get access to the language skill! Warning: level shock can occur from this new skill due to its size. The system recommends not taking other knowledge-related skills until you have mastered this one.
You gain the ability to buy and rent land from your liege lord!
You gain the ability to rent land to commoners!
You gain the ability to allow heroic creatures to lodge in lands or properties you rent or own!
You gain the ability to teach charisma-related skills to heroes!
You gain an advancement in charisma and appearance!
You gain the ability to form a party of commoners!
A special condition has been detected!
You gain the blessing "Strong Destiny!"
Strong Destiny has the following effects:
You have been assigned to Shard 31!
Shard 31 has been called in to take over the leveling!
Shard 31's POV
Shard 31: let's see, oh, a commoner elf girl with a non-standard blessing. Ah, well, this is bad; the poor little thing is shaking.
Shard 31 spoke into her mind, Don’t worry, Star; you won’t go into shock until we finish, so just relax, or you could suffer trauma, which can result in negative effects from a commoner interacting with a shard. It could be positive though, so tense up if you feel like taking the chance.
Shard 31's voice entered Star's mind and now she could read or get the audio book version, as he was talking to her!
"Ahhhh! Nooo! What is going on?" said Star, shaking as a powerful voice suddenly popped up in her head.
* Shard 31, trauma it is. The screen will show * on the system screen to represent that I am manually taking control of these non-standard leveling events and that I relating them to you mentally. I will make this as quick as possible; if you are unable to respond due to trauma, I will choose mandatory choices for you because I have other stuff to do.
* Shard 31: you gain 1000 experience!
* Shard 31: you gain a forced level!
You are now at level 2!
You are now part of the system; you lose your innocence, and heroic creatures can now gain experience for defeating you!
Your appraisal status has changed to heroic commoner!
* Shard 31: your initial alignment is set to your clan affiliation and therefore is neutral good due to no actions taken since reaching level 1.
* Shard 31: warning: alignment will be judged by your actions and set when you reach level 5.
* Shard 31: your alignment is hidden from appraisal and area of effect spells and abilities, but not from targeted spells and affects until you reach level 5.
* Shard 31: you lose your innocence and are no longer under the protection of the system; you can now have your property stolen, and your clothing is no longer inviolate by heroic creatures. Since you seem to have a thing for wanting to be devoured, now you will not hurt their tummies.
Shard 31 looked to see if this has a calming effect on the young noblewoman, but it didn’t seem to. Oh well, I tried; everyone saw me trying, thought Shard 31, to Star.
You can no longer gain experience by killing common, helpless creatures.
* Shard 31: for Strong Destiny, all statistics at 0 or below are set to 0+.
* Shard 31: you gain two advancements to health!
* Shard 31: you gain an advancement in strength!
* Shard 31: you gain a + to Strength.
You learn the Common language as a present for being part of the system of Babylon!
You gain the following effects from leveling:
Power level two is for resisting spells and effects that differ based on target level.
Level two is set to noble.
As an advanced noble, you gain a free advancement to appearance!
You gain the ability to use heroic gear, metal coins, and heroic magical items even outside of a party!
You gain the ability to join a heroic party as a commoner!
You gain the ability to form a common party with a heroic member included!
You gain 10 skill points (20 total)!
You gain the ability to add a plus to four other statistics other than appearance. Please state your preferences.
Your attack is set to 1+.
Your health is raised to 9 hit points for the first level.
You gain 6 hit points!
Your health is set to 15, with 0+ modifiers at present!
Your will saves increase by 15%.
Please select the five statistics that you want to raise!
* Shard 31: note that your level shock will not commence until this is chosen.
Shard 31: looks at the unblinking star, who, he notes, seems to be taking a long time to choose.
* Shard 31: due to trauma, making statistics increase choices based on popular trends for Elven nobles.
* Shard 31: it is obvious to raise the one + statistic to an advancement, so applying a + to strength and raising it to 1, as well as raising health to 1, will to 1, and charisma to 3, This also raises Appearance by a + to 4. And we just go with the racial bonuses, so a + to dexterity and intelligence. Oops, that is six; oh well. Looks good, Shard 31 casts a few glances at the gibbering elf woman. Great even.
Your statistics now are:
Strength Dexterity Health Intelligence Will Charisma Appearance 1+ 2+ 1 2+ 1 3 4
Your class is the common noble.
For being an upper-tier commoner, you gain your race statistics!
You gain starlight vision!
You gain a bonus of 10% to the perception skill!
You gain access to the Elven Presence ability once per level, which adds 10% to charisma skills for a turn! This damages you by one non-lethal hit point.
You gain a racial advancement in dexterity!
You gain a racial advancement in intelligence!
You gain one skill slot!
You lose an advancement in health!
Your hit points are set to 4 (down from 3) for your health modifier.
Your base attack is 0+.
You gain a 10% bonus to will saves.
You gain the common weapon ability.
You gain Elven martial weapon abilities.
You gain the Elven exotic weapons ability.
You gain the ability to wear advanced commoner light armor.
You gain the ability to use advanced common items.
You gain the ability to learn a total of 10 skill points.
You gain access to all heroic charisma skills!
You gain access to a limited number of heroic knowledge specialties!
You get access to the language skill! Warning: level shock can occur from this new skill due to its size. The system recommends not taking other knowledge-related skills until you have mastered this one.
You gain the ability to buy and rent land from your liege lord!
You gain the ability to rent land to commoners!
You gain the ability to allow heroic creatures to lodge in lands or properties you rent or own!
You gain the ability to teach charisma-related skills to heroes!
You gain an advancement in charisma and appearance!
You gain the ability to form a party of commoners!
A special condition has been detected!
You gain the blessing "Strong Destiny!"
Strong Destiny has the following effects:
You have been assigned to Shard #31!
Shard #31 has been called in to take over the leveling!
Shard #31: let's see, oh, a commoner elf girl with a non-standard blessing. Ah, well, this is bad; the poor little thing is shaking.
Shard #31 spoke into her mind, Don’t worry, Star; you won’t go into shock until we finish, so just relax, or you could suffer trauma, which can result in negative effects from a commoner interacting with a shard. It could be positive though, so tense up if you feel like taking the chance.
A voice entered Star's mind and now she had to read while a voice was talking to her!
"Ahhhh! Nooo! What is going on?" said Star, shaking as a powerful voice suddenly popped up in her head.
* Shard #31, trauma it is. The screen will show * on the system screen to represent that I am manually taking control of these non-standard leveling events and that I relating them to you mentally. I will make this as quick as possible; if you are unable to respond due to trauma, I will choose mandatory choices for you because I have other stuff to do.
* Shard #31: you gain a forced level!
* Shard #31: you gain 1000 experience!
You are now at level 2!
You are now part of the system; you lose your innocence, and heroic creatures can now gain experience for defeating you!
Your appraisal status has changed to heroic commoner!
* Shard #31: your initial alignment is set to your clan affiliation and therefore is neutral good due to no actions taken since reaching level 1.
* Shard #31: warning: alignment will be judged by your actions and set when you reach level 5.
* Shard #31: your alignment is hidden from appraisal and area of effect spells and abilities, but not from targeted spells and affects until you reach level 5.
* Shard #31: you lose your innocence and are no longer under the protection of the system; you can now have your property stolen, and your clothing is no longer inviolate by heroic creatures. Since you seem to have a thing for wanting to be devoured, now you will not hurt their tummies.
Shard #31 looked to see if this has a calming effect on the young noblewoman, but it didn’t seem to. Oh well, I tried; everyone saw me trying, thought Shard 31, to Star.
You can no longer gain experience by killing common, helpless creatures.
* Shard #31: for Strong Destiny, all statistics at 0 or below are set to 0+.
* Shard #31: you gain two advancements to health!
* Shard #31: you gain an advancement in strength!
* Shard #31: you gain a + to Strength.
You learn the Common language as a present for being part of the system of Babylon!
You gain the following effects from leveling:
Power level two is for resisting spells and effects that differ based on target level.
Level two is set to noble.
As an advanced noble, you gain a free advancement to appearance!
You gain the ability to use heroic gear, metal coins, and heroic magical items even outside of a party!
You gain the ability to join a heroic party as a commoner!
You gain the ability to form a common party with a heroic member included!
You gain 10 skill points (20 total)!
You gain the ability to add a plus to four other statistics other than appearance. Please state your preferences.
Your attack is set to 1+.
Your health is raised to 9 hit points for the first level.
You gain 6 hit points!
Your health is set to 15, with 0+ modifiers at present!
Your will saves increase by 15%.
Please select the five statistics that you want to raise!
* Shard #31: note that your level shock will not commence until this is chosen.
Shard #31: looks at the unblinking star, who, he notes, seems to be taking a long time to choose.
* Shard #31: due to trauma, making statistics increase choices based on popular trends for Elven nobles.
* Shard #31: it is obvious to raise the one + statistic to an advancement, so applying a + to strength and raising it to 1, as well as raising health to 1, will to 1, and charisma to 3, This also raises Appearance by a + to 4. And we just go with the racial bonuses, so a + to dexterity and intelligence. Oops, that is six; oh well. Looks good, Shard 31 casts a few glances at the gibbering elf woman. Great even.
You gain 2 hit points!
You gain a 10% boost to defense!
You gain 5% attack!
You gain +1 damage for muscle-powered attacks!
Warning: Your strength skill is too low for many basic martial skills.
Warning: Your statistics are unbalanced due to a system error!
* Shard #31: overwritten; might as well give her the + to strength as well, seeing how badly she will need it for abilities.
* Warning: shard trauma detected! rolling for a result!
* For system trauma, you gain 1,000 experience!
For system trauma, you gain limited telepathy and system access with Shard #31.
Your modified statistics now are:
You gain 2 hit points!
You gain a 10% boost to defense!
You gain 5% attack!
You gain +1 damage for muscle-powered attacks!
Warning: Your strength skill is too low for many basic martial skills.
Warning: shard trauma detected! rolling for a result!
For system trauma, you gain 1,000 experience!
For system trauma, you gain limited telepathy and system access with Shard 31.
Your statistics now are:
Str Health Dex Int Will Chr App Level 1+ 2+ 2+ 1 1 3 4 2
Shard 31: "exiting The Leveling, prepare yourself for the shock of double leveling, double system trauma, and gaining the heroic Common language."