Ouch. Everything hurt again. Or at least it had, until the levels came through. Then she felt much better. A blue ogre helped her sit up as she stared dazedly at the sky. Everything had just been one shock after another. Rose could see and hear that people were trying to talk to her, but she wasn’t really processing what was being said. Was she in shock?
“Tutorial Goal: Clear your region to access the Class Core for the district.”
62.4% Complete – 27.6% Remaining
You have completed the third ‘Tutorial Goal’ before it was assigned to the region.
Distributing Rewards Based on Contribution.
For accomplishing a [SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT], choose two of the following:
* [BROWNIE FAIRY] [BLOODLINE]
* [FAE GUARDIAN] [BLOODLINE]
* [ELEMENTAL SPIRIT] [BLOODLINE]
* ABILITY – [HEEL TO THE EXCEPTIONAL ONE]
* ABILITY – [KEEPER]
Reading through the reward helped her dulled state calm back down to normal. “Rose are you okay?” Fred’s voice finally came through.
“Um, yeah. I think I’m alright now. The level ups pretty much healed me up. T, Tell me what happened.”
Martin spoke up to answer her “We went to search the houses. You sent a panicked message saying we need to help Kaito at the other end of the street, and by the time we arrived we could see you were already inside the monster. I told Larry. Then the slime exploded and you fell to the ground. Then I had to reupdate Larry again. And also, because we were in a party together, we got some levels from your kill. That about covers it. How about you? What happened on your end?”
Slowly, Rose recounted what happened. In the middle of the story she noticed Kaito sit up from where he’d been laying on the ground. As she finished the retelling, Kaito dragged his feet over to her, head bowed. “Um, th, thanks for saving me. I’m sorry for causing you trouble” he muttered an apology, barely audible.
The poor guy seemed really beat up, physically and mentally. “Hey, no worries” she tried to comfort him “We all got to look after each other now that the world’s gone to shit.”
Kaito just nodded several times before giving a slight smile in relief and appreciation.
“Now if we could just get a shower from one of the nearby houses, that would be great. Icky slime doesn’t really suit me.”
Neil, who carried the first aid kit and their appointed medic, helped Rose to her feet and made sure she could walk okay. Then she headed for the closest house for that shower she was after. The ‘overzealous’ teen had decided he’d had enough for the day and would be heading back for some rest. He was still a bit bruised after all. Twenty minutes later the party started the search once again. This time in two groups instead of splitting up entirely.
Fred walked in front and Rose followed from behind as she brought up her reward options again. This time she expanded the tags to get a better idea of what was being offered.
For accomplishing a [SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT], choose two of the following:
* [BROWNIE FAIRY] [BLOODLINE]
This [BLOODLINE] keeps any household or company in tip top shape, so long as you are around. Provides a constant 40% [DILLIGENCE] buff to surrounding area. Area buffed depends on [RACE] level. Provides the ability [NEAT AND TIDY]. Provides sight into the ethereal realm that can only be seen by [FAIRIES], [FAE] and [SPIRIT]s.
* [FAE GUARDIAN] [BLOODLINE]
This [BLOODLINE] helps in keeping a secure space. Provides the abilities [KEEN EYE] and [DANGER SENSE]. Provides a 10% boost to [STENGTH] and [VITALITY]. Provides sight into the ethereal realm that can only be seen by [FAIRIES], [FAE] and [SPIRIT]s.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
* [ELEMENTAL SPIRIT] [BLOODLINE]
This [BLOODLINE] improves your manipulation of magic. Improvement depends on [RACE] level. Provides 100% affinity and proficiency with the four basic elements: [FIRE], [WATER], [AIR] and [EARTH]. Provides sight into the ethereal realm that can only be seen by [FAIRIES], [FAE] and [SPIRIT]s.
* ABILITY – [HEEL TO THE EXCEPTIONAL ONE]
This ability allows the user to automatically tame any beast or monster up to 25% above their own level. Variants can be exceptions.
* ABILITY – [KEEPER]
This ability to allows tamed beasts or monsters to hibernate in a separate space and be called out at will.
Impressive. And she got to choose two? Cards on the table, she would definitely be picking at least one [BLOODLINE]. After reading them she already had her sights set on one that she really wanted. The abilities sounded really cool too. However, the ability [KEEPER] felt like just adding more then was necessary. She could already summon Toby when needed, and she was just fine with that. So, the decision was between [HEEL TO THE EXCEPTIONAL ONE] or another [BLOODLINE]. Rose made her choice after only a few more moments.
You have chosen the following options:
* [BROWNIE FAIRY] [BLOODLINE]
* ABILITY – [HEEL TO THE EXCEPTIONAL ONE]
Confirm?
[Y/N]
Rose confirmed.
Activating [BLOODLINE]
[BLOODLINE ACTIVATED]
Rose expected a rush of power or something similar, but no such thing happened. It was an unhurried power that slowly worked its way through her body over a few minutes. Her eyes began to see smoky shifts both in matter and air that she was sure hadn’t been there before. After a couple more minutes she noticed that Fred’s posture had straightened. He also seemed more confident and determined. Then she noticed sparkling silver, leafy patterns forming on just her hands at first. Then they imprinted up her arms and after a few more minutes she felt the patterns grow across her chest, cross over each other, and continue up the opposite sides of her neck and head. Then they crossed over each other again around her forehead and worked their way back down. Finally, the patterns stopped imprinting at the tips of her ears, which she was pretty sure were now pointed. Rose reached up to check. Yep, both ears were now tapered into points. It was only slight but the change was definitely there. She wondered if there were any changes she couldn’t see or if there would be more tomorrow. She hoped not. It would really suck to have to bend over to get through every doorway. Poor Martin.
After exiting one of the houses Fred turned to check on her and then jumped in fright. “Sorry, I should have told you I got rewarded a [BLOODLINE]” Rose said.
Fred just sighed, then kept walking. He was apparently just going to ignore the weird things going on around him. Rose was right there with him, there was no point focusing on what you couldn’t control. In the next house they found a [BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] but this one didn’t seem to be quite the same.
Canine – [ICY BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] – [LEVEL 4]
There were no bodies around, but that tag was… off. Standing side by side with Fred, the young lady almost missed what came flying towards them. CRACK. Rose’s wok was now pressed into Fred’s stomach, but she was sure he wouldn’t mind. Not after it saved him from being speared by a speeding icicle. With its surprise attack nullified the wolf growled very scarily. Deciding she was done with the situation, Rose stepped aside to allow the true star of the show to shine.
Toby stepped forward and bared his teeth at the ice wielder menacingly. The smaller wolf couldn’t really be blamed for its dumbfounded expression. How could you be scared of something that let a little, black, pussy cat lick his paws on top of its head? Zen lazily glanced at the confrontation, clearly uninterested. The ice wielder once again tried to stand its ground. This time Toby gave a long, deep growl that echoed throughout the room. Even Rose shivered slightly. Yeah, there would have been no way she could have tamed him if she had met him as he is now. Making the decidedly smart choice the smaller wolf promptly rolled over, showing its belly. Toby walked over and gave a sniff of acknowledgement before glowing green for a moment. Rose rechecked his tag. Did adding wolves to his pack give Toby levels?
Canine – [ALPHA ICY BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] – [LEVEL 7]
Oh. The glow wasn’t for a level. Alphas must gain the traits of their pack. That’s a neat trick. Continuing, they didn’t find any other challengers on their side of the block. While walking Rose had once again opened up her stat screen. There were points to distribute after all. She just wanted to round out her attributes for now. There was no need to go crazy min maxing, especially not this early on in levels. After some calculation and some embarrassing finger counting, four points were added to [VITALITY], six to [AGILITY], seven to [DEXTERITY] and two points in [CHARISMA]. Happy with the distribution the allocation of points was confirmed. There was the rush of power she had been waiting for. Invigorating. Rose then did a final check of her updated [STATUS] screen.
[STATUS]
KIND: [HUMANOID]
RACE: [HUMAN]
BLOODLINE: [BROWNIE FAIRY] – [ACTIVATED]
SEX: [FEMALE]
AGE: 25
NAME: [ROSETTE SKY THORNE]
TITLE: [LADY]
[LEVEL 10]
STR – 14
VIT – 14
AGI – 12
DEX – 12
CON – 17
INT – 19
WIS – 15
CHA – 14
PER – 16
It was time to meet back up with Martin and get going. According to the reports their party leader had relayed, Stafford and the next-door suburbs, Kedron and Gordon Park, were all clear. The Class Core awaited.