Talent Book: Detect Life (Beginner)
The ability to view the gift of the Nexus – the essence of life. Allows player to detect lifeforms within a radius proportional to their magic ability.
Prerequisite Talents: Improved Perception (beginner)
You may not learn the talent “Detect Foe (Beginner)” as prerequisites have not been met.
Milly sat on the beach, surrounded by her player screens, the talent book heavy in her hands. Against the gentle roar of the waves and occasional crack of the fallen cliff, she wondered what she should do with her ten levels worth of talent points and attributes.
A desperate desire urged her to head straight for the undefended Waypoint Pillar – to Cally and Passi and Rain that were beyond it – but her pragmatic side held the urge at bay. Her magic was exhausted, and even though the waypoint was nearby, monsters swarmed the jungle. If she encountered a single enemy along the way, the only thing she would have gained from all this would be an early grave.
Be patient, Milly. Be patient. You’ll see Cally soon. Just make sure you get there in one piece.
Her heart raced, adrenaline from her victory flowing in her blood. Despite her efforts to focus on her level up, her mind kept drifting back to Calista and the intense desire to see her again.
God, I want to hold her. And kiss her. I want us to tear off each other’s clothes. Feel her breasts pressed tight against me, and…
She shook her head vigorously, trying to clear her head.
God, what’s gotten into you, Milly. I know it’s been a week since you’ve been with her, but you need to pay attention to more important things. Focus.
She gazed down at the talent book in her hands. The leather-bound tomb was hefty, its weatherworn surface marred by faded colors and stains of age. It felt ancient – older than anything she had encountered in this world.
The tome’s prerequisites would require her to spend one of her two general talent points – the points she could spend on any talent – on the Improved Perceptional ability. Although her gothic boots granted that talent, apparently didn’t count towards prerequisites.
That makes sense. It’s not really my talent after all. I’m just borrowing it from my boots. If it did work that way, I’m sure Xavier would have exploited the crap out the mechanic.
“But it’s not where I wanted to spend my talent point,” Milly sighed. “I wanted to increase my hand-to-hand and regeneration. Yet what can I do? Detect Life is perfect for the wilds. I’ll let me sense enemies much earlier, which means I could avoid or ambush them. If I’d had this a week ago, I would have made it to the ruins the first day I was here.”
Milly chose the Improved Perception talent, and a notification appeared as it combined with the skill already granted by her gothic boots.
Improved Perception (beginner) acquired.
Existing equipment evolves Improved Perception (beginner) to Improved Perception (advanced).
The world around her erupted into a cascade of vivid colors, sounds, and smells, as all her senses surpassed human ability.
“Woah, this is incredible! Everything is so bright. So real.”
It was as if she were seeing the world around her for the first time. She could feel the natural fissures in the earth and spot an orange stone the size of a pinhead in the sand. She heard the wind brushing past individual leaves in the jungle, the trickle of a nearby stream as it bent around stones, and the whispered chirps of creatures scurrying under the ferns. The scent of a nearby blossom nearly overpowered her, and she had to quickly learned how to dull the sensations she didn’t need.
“Everything is so heightened. Tastes, smells, sounds, touch. Cally got this level of perception after the Arena of Protection. How did she… oh… ohhh…”
Milly’s face erupted in a deep blush as her thoughts drifted back to their first night making love after Calista upgrade her perception.
She was an animal. Licking me. Telling me how good I taste. How good I feel. Her fingers – she hit just the right spots. And my moans… she couldn’t get enough of my moans… Fuck…
Milly squirmed in the sand, as she tried to reel in her thoughts once more.
“You don’t have time for this, Milly,” she scolded herself. “You’ll be home soon enough. And then… then she’ll be the one moaning.”
Milly bit her lip and returned her attention to the tomb.
“Okay, talent book…” Milly mumbled. “Let’s do this.”
Talent Book: Detect Foe (Beginner)
The ability to view the gift of the Nexus – the essence of life. Allows player to detect lifeforms within a radius proportional to their magic ability.
Prerequisite Talents: Improved Perception (beginner)
You may learn the talent “Detect Foe (Beginner)”
Do you wish to learn the talent “Detect Foe (Beginner)”?
“Yes,” Milly said with conviction.
#Error# Detect Life was designed for an older God Contest operating system. This talent may not be compatible with this version of the God Contest. Do you wish to continue?
“What? An old operating system?” Milly whispered. “Does that mean it’s from a previous God Contest?”
If you don’t use what you’re given to win, you’re a fool. That’s what Xavier said. If it isn’t supposed to be in this God Contest… perhaps having it give me an advantage. I’ll just have to be careful.
“I want to learn the talent.”
The leather-bound tomb disintegrated into a fine golden mist, which spiraled up into the air and entered through her pupils. Milly felt stabbing pain in her eye but forced herself not to blink until the last particle of mist disappeared.
You have learned the talent “Detect Life (#error#)”
The world lit up with a blinding, golden light as if she were staring at the sun. Milly shut her eyes tightly to block the light and tried not to panic.
Did I blind myself? No, I must be able to control it, just like improved perception. Focus.
Milly took a deep breath, concentrated on turning off the talent, and opened her eyes.
The golden light disappeared, and her vision was as it once was.
“Yes!” shouted Milly triumphantly, feeling more than a little relief. “Now, be intentional. Add in the monsters. Larger creatures. Maybe… any creature larger than my palm?”
As she added each, one-by-one, she began to see a faint golden outline of nearby creatures. She could pinpoint every fish beneath the waves, every mouse that scurried beneath the undergrowth, and every bird in the canopy above within a hundred feet.
Focusing on the mice, she was able to eliminate them from her perception. Once she’d figured out the mechanics, the talent came to her intuitively.
I don’t need the mice and birds, but I’ll keep the fish. A little fine tuning and… there! Now I should only be able to detect the creatures that I need to be aware of… unless there’s some massively powerful mouse, I suppose. I can’t let my guard down, but at least I’ll be safer in the wilds.
“Now, for all my magic talents. The first four are easy,” Milly said as she scrolled through the talent web. “Cally and I planned this out a week ago. When I elevated my water magic to advanced, it became much stronger and more economical to use. So I need to use four points for my other magic - fire, earth, air and telekinesis.”
Milly added those points, and immediately felt the difference.
If I’d had advanced earth magic earlier today, I could have finished that cliff trap in a fraction of the time. Though I wouldn’t have traded my fog for anything. It’s saved me more times than I can count.
“For my second general talent point, I’ll evolve my hand-to-hand. I can pick regeneration next time. And I’ll put my twenty attribute points all into magic.”
She felt a surge in her magic power, as well as the size of her magic reserves and its recovery rate.
“And… that’s as far as Cally and I planned,” Milly sighed, as she stared blankly at the talent web. “I didn’t expect to get ten levels all at once. I still have three more to pick.”
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Milly stretched out on her back and stared up at the cloudless sky as she scrolled through the innumerable options available on the talent web.
“There are so many choices. Manipulate Colors? Animate Golem? Professional Baking? Sound Projection? Actually, Cosmo should take that for his band. I hate to praise a former CEO, but they’re actually pretty good.”
Milly’s eyes drifted to a line of talents outlined in pink.
“What’s this one? Enhance Performance? Sounds promising. I wonder what it… oh… oh my…”
Enhance Performance
Allows the player to magically enhance sexual experience in self and others. This talent is a prerequisite for all sexual magical talents.
“That’s… that’s not going to help us win the God Contest,” Milly stuttered as she blushed fiercely, her thoughts returning to the woman she loved and their imminent reunion. “There’s just… I mean, I suppose there could be scenarios, but… I mean, I could. They don’t all have to be survival talents, right?”
Milly closed the talent web and stared at a wisp of cloud passing overhead until her heart stopped racing.
“It’s just the adrenaline, Milly,” she told herself, taking slow, deep breaths. “You crushed some lizards with an entire cliff and now you can’t think straight. And in a few minutes, you’ll be back with Cally. In her arms… kissing her…”
The thought sent an excited shiver down Milly’s spine.
Calista’s lips on mine. Her tongue darting between my teeth. My hands on her hips as I slowly kiss down her stomach as my fingers…
“Fuck… Milly, keep your head in the game,” she scolded herself. “You went your whole life without sex before you met Cally. I know it’s been a week but focus on what’s important.”
Like the small of her back. Her tight butt. The way she feels between my…
“I need to get home!” Milly declared, hopping to her feet and pacing along the shoreline. “Here. This one. Teleportation. That’s a useful talent. It’s only short distances and it takes a lot of magic, but it’ll be perfect for a quick escape.”
She quickly selected it and used a second point to upgrade it to advanced.
“Just one more talent point to assign until I can see her. Come on Milly, what do you want? Metal magic like Rain? Chaotic magic? Angelic?”
I have an angel. My angel. With her crimson hair that I love to run my fingers through as she…
“Oh, fuck it!”
Milly scrolled back to the pink-outlined web and selected Enhance Performance.
“Stupid choice. Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she muttered as she brushed the sand off her dress and strode purposefully into the jungle, headed for the pillar.
* * *
Her Detect Life talent proved its worth less than a minute inside the jungle as she glimpsed a faint sparkle in the sky above. She dove under a patch of ferns and wrapped a cocoon of air around her to prevent her scent from drifting with the wind – a trick she’d learned during her first day on the island.
The monster that flew overhead was the size of a truck, with the body of an eagle and the face of a woman. Milly sat perfectly still as its horrendous, high-pitched scream startled a pack of boars that had been wallowing in a nearby mudhole.
The boars bolted in terror, and Milly held her breath – careful not to make a sound – as the harpy dove lightning fast through the canopy. Her razor talons sliced clean through the biggest boar’s thick neck, and she flew away with the headless carcass grasped in her claws.
Milly waited until the surviving boar had settled and returned to their mudhole before she let the cocoon of air fade away and resumed traveling to the Waypoint Pillar. The combination of her improved perception and Detect Life made her hyperaware of everything around her, and with it came an elevated anxiousness that made Milly’s chest feel tight.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the pillar remained unguarded. The only creature in sight was the capybara lying on the ground in a pool of blood, its skin partially peeled and a hole through its skull where Milly’s ice had pierced it and since melted.
“Poor thing,” Milly whispered as she approached the pillar. The island was filled with herds of the adorable capybara. At sunset, they would gather in large groups on the beach to play in the ocean. Watching them had been a distraction from the sorrow that had threatened to overwhelm her each day.
“I’m on my way, my love.” Milly said excitedly as she placed her hand on the pillar.
Her excitement turned to ash.
Waypoint Pillar
Location: Isle 38-2: The Isle of Experimental Hybrids
#Error#: Waypoint pillar disconnected from primary God Contest waypoint network.
This is a local network.
Local Network Designation: The Archipelago Research Alliance (Project Rebirth)
#Error# Local Network Connection Off-line. Restore at Research Station Omega
“What? No! No, no, no!” Milly cried, slamming her palm against the pillar as if it were the malfunctioning printer at the call center. “Please no, I can’t do this. I need to go home. I need to see my family! I need to be with Cally!”
She collapsed to her knees beside the dead capybara, her forehead leaned against the pillar, as the elation of her victory soured, and sorrow took root once more. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the wall of bravery she had carefully crafted crumbled.
She knelt there, frozen in place, her palm pressed to the pillar as the sun finished its daily journey and the stars of the night began to appear. It wasn’t until her last tear had fallen and soaked into the jungle soil that she was able to pull herself together.
That… that’s enough, Milly. You can’t give up. It’s just a setback. You have to keep pushing on. For Cally, and Passi and Rain. For yourself. If you don’t, you’ll die out here, as surely as this capybara. Think. Figure it out.
Milly read the pillar’s message again, digesting what information she could.
The Isle of Experimental Hybrids. That would explain all the strange creatures I’ve been seeing. If it’s experimental, that means someone built it. This Archipelago Research Alliance? That must mean there are more islands out here. Perhaps these waypoints pillars are transport between the islands? That’s not so bad, is it? At least you don’t have to swim to another island. And there must be a central island. The main research station. If I can find that, maybe it will have a way to get home.
The branches in the canopy above rustled, and Milly pulled her hand away to let the screen fade and douse the area in darkness. She saw the golden outline of a monkey high above as it swung between the trees.
My improved perception and detect life talents don’t do me much good if I’m not paying attention. I need someone to keep watch.
Her eyes fell upon the dead capybara, and her magic began to tingle at her fingertips.
I should have taken a basic summoning skill, like that Carthage sister and her wolves, instead of that enhance performance one. I now can’t even get home with this pillar to see Cally so I can use it!
She sighed with regret and placed her hand on the capybara. Reanimate Rodent was a skill granted to her through her witch’s hat. She’d only used it twice – on a rat when she’d acquired it at the goblin camp, and at the Arena of Protection with Rain’s muskrats. She’d been so hesitant to use it – she could feel the undead rodents in her mind.
I’ve changed so much since we first arrived in this world. I’ve seen death and destruction, and I’ve done more than my fair share of the killing. To still be afraid of an undead rodent? It just seems so… small. So insignificant after everything that has happened. I chose the persona of the witch, and it’s time I embraced magic beyond the elemental.
Milly channeled her power into the capybara, and its dead eyes flittered open. She felt its playful spirit appear in the corner of her mind, a reflection of the animated creature it had been in life. The connection between them was stronger than with the muskrats. The muskrats had followed her command, but she sensed this creature would be able to act of its own accord, if only in the most basic ways.
What would happen if I increased this talent to advanced level? Could an undead creature think for itself as its own entity? No one at the Castle of Glass has pursued necromancy magic but maybe it’s not as scary as I thought it was. Or maybe… maybe it’ll be terrifying but under my control.
“Can you keep watch? Let me know if anything gets close, okay?” Milly asked the capybara.
The capybara gave two short, twin clicks that rumbled off her tongue. Her eyes near the top of her head darted around tirelessly as she scanned the jungle for threats, communicating back what she saw through a complex series of quiet barks and whistles. Milly didn’t need her to speak – she could sense everything through their connection – but it comforted her to hear something friendly.
It made her feel like she wasn’t utterly alone.
Resolving to keep the capybara around for a while, if only for the company, she returned her attention to the Waypoint Pillar.
I can activate this pillar at Research Station Omega. Those must be the ruins I saw on the mountain. It’s the only manmade structure I’ve seen. If I turn this pillar on, then I should be able to move between the islands.
Her eyes shifted to the first error message.
#Error#: Waypoint pillar disconnected from God Contest waypoint network.
This pillar – this island – it just feels… wrong. I mean, this whole fucking world feels wrong, but this is different. Why is it disconnected from the God Contest network? Am I in an Arena? Is it a challenge I haven’t encountered before? Or…
The thought came to her like a lightning flash across the night sky.
Or perhaps this place – this archipelago – wasn’t intended to be part of the God Contest at all. An abandoned design? A lost fragment? Or something else entirely?
Local Network Designation: The Archipelago Research Alliance (Project Rebirth)
A shiver ran down Milly’s spine.
‘Project Rebirth’ doesn’t sound like an accident. I need to find out more.
She stared up at the mountain, its peak barely visible against the night sky.
Research Station Omega. I guess that’s where I need to go. Back to square one. At least I know why I need to go there now.
Milly rose to her feet and started to walk towards the beach.
“Let’s set up camp for the night. I can get a little sleep before morning. Come on, um… capybara. I guess you need a name…”
The undead capybara looked up at her and replied with a series of short chirps.
“Coco? I… I didn’t realize you still had your memories,” Milly replied. “The muskrats didn’t. Gods, I hope they didn’t. They got exploded.”
Coco gave a worried bark.
“What? No, that was Rain’s idea. I won’t do that. I just need you to keep a watch and scout ahead.”
The undead capybara chirped her thanks and began to plod along ahead of Milly.
They made their way slowly to the beach, avoiding the beasts along the way. With each step, the foundations of Milly’s resolve began to reform within her.
I won’t give up. I’ll never give up. Cally. Passi. Rain. I’ll find a way home. I promise.
Mildred Persephone Brown
Level: 36
Specialty: Survival
Class: The Scarred Witch
Sub-class: Her Inquisitor
Strength:
Base: 40
Enhanced: 51 (+ 4 from Collar of the Victor, +7 from Obsidian Fists)
Agility:
Base: 26
Enhanced: 41 (+15 from Gown of Moon and Stars)
Toughness:
Base: 50
Enhanced: 54 (+4 from Collar of the Victor)
Magic:
Base: 68
Enhanced: 93 (+15 from Gown of Moon and Stars, +2 from Milly's First Witch's Hat, +8 from Luna’s Pendant of Guidance)
Talents:
Elemental Magic - Fire (advanced), Earth (advanced), Water (advanced), Air (advanced)
Healing Magic - Healer's Touch (advanced), Regeneration (beginner), Healer’s Aura (beginner)
Psychic - Telekinesis (advanced)
Necromancy – Reanimate rodent (beginner)
Spatial - Teleportation (advanced)
Combat – Hand-to-hand (advanced)
Exploration – Improved Perception (advanced), Detect Life (#error#)
Sexual – Enhance Performance (beginner)
Unique Talent: Salem’s Fury
Class Talents: No limits, Weaver, Relentless, Outcast, Consequences
Sub-Class Talents: Oracle’s Avatar, Ceaseless Skepticism, Explorer, Warrior Witch, Incorruptible
Equipment Benefits:
Reanimate Rodent (beginner, Witch's Hat)
Oracle’s Divination (beginner, Luna's Pendant of Guidance)
Mana Absorption (beginner, Obsidian Fists)
Improved Perception (beginner, Milly’s Gothic Boots)
See the Unseen (#error#, Spectacles of Hidden Design)
Locate Corruption (#error#, Spectacles of Hidden Design)