Chapter 2
Laura, or what remained of Laura followed her heart. Rather than following the path of the ill-fated Von’Roseblade retainer Karen and following the script as she had done a million times before. This time Laura was able to choose the direction she would go in, this time she chose to take the new, yet oddly familiar path of creating Karen’s own destiny.
Fueled by her innately over powered and obsessive study of the spells, lore, and layout of the world Laura jumped through the tiny window, choosing Option 2.
With this one choice, she would forever change not only her own, but Karen’s destiny as well. For after this moment the two souls would finally become one.
Electric Tingle.
The moment Laura’s controlled avatar of Karen jumped through the window something miraculous happened as she felt the world come to a complete stop for a moment.
In that moment Laura in the body of Karen was frozen in the air, hovering over the body of the deadly Coiling Viper King, a creature that would have spelled certain death for Karen’s frail body had it had a chance to strike. As it was, Laura using Karen’s vastly superior
Seeing the design, suddenly the component made sense. The fact that power crystal came from powerful beasts was a given. But what had often eluded her was where exactly they were located and what separated a charged crystal from a dead crystal.
Crystals could only be charged while the owning monster was alive. Which meant that the drop rate of charged crystals was completely random. At least that was what Laura first believed.
But now looking at the obliterated remains of the glowing crystal below her, Laura finally understood something.
“When you target the noob assist marker, you are actually targeting the core of the creature.” Laura, said using Karen’s voice. As she spoke, she noted that the noob assist, or obvious fatal flaw of most high powered monsters was something that denoted lack of creativity. But hovering in the air, Laura’s mind spun with possibilities, about how the newb assist marker might actually be the location of the power crystal. A fact that was proven as the clearly glowing power crystal for the Coiling Viper King was now dislodged, having been forcefully burned away from the remaining sections of skin. That’s when she continued to talk to herself.
“And it appears that by targeting the noob assist marker, if hit hard enough you can completely destroy the spinal column and neural relay system for the monster’s body. This, this makes so much sense, finally. Why didn’t the creators just say this from the beginning?” Laura found herself asking, while still looking down at the fully charged power stone.
Power stones were important, as they were considered a form of currency in the world that was readily accepted everywhere as everyone from artisans to mechanical engineers, to enchanters used them. The charged ones were especially popular as they could be sold for a much higher price. Even mundanes, those that could not use magic, often found the importance of having at least one charged stone as they made excellent light sources. Which is exactly what Laura planned to do with this one, once she got to it, of course.
Then before Laura had time to wonder exactly what was happening, the system spoke to her.
Quest Complete: Choosing Your Fate: You were at a crossroads for your future, and you chose the path untraveled. Option 2 Chosen.
Option 2: Leave immediately (Check). Conditional: don’t get caught (Check). Rewards: Variable, based on success rate. Bonus reward for killing Coiling Viper King being applied (+1 Rank to Magic). Current Rank: C, Error, Unable to increase beyond C Rank without proper training.
Exception applied as still in Tutorial phase. Magic Rank forcefully Increased to Rank B.
Note: Once rewards for this path are over, you will not be able to increase any Attributes, Affinities, or Skill rankings above C, without finding a Training Tome, A Master to learn from, or Gaining knowledge from battling a person with the Ranking you desire to learn.
Applying rewards for killing monster guardian. First Kill Bonus: You have managed to kill a hidden Coiling Viper King by critical strike from
Reward Re-distribution: Affinity Rank removed. New Skills acquired.
Skill: Dual Casting: The ability to cast multiple spells at one time and keep them running smoothly. Rank: F.
Skill: Mana Exertion Casting: Able to cast spells below the fifty percent threshold without occurring any mental or physical penalties. Rank: F.
Skill: Mana Circulation: Able to circulate mana in your body. Rank F.
Skill: Sneak Attack: All attacks made on unsuspecting targets increased by 25% - 100%. Rank F.
Skill: Focused Casting: Able to be more accurate with pinpoint precision when given chance to focus. Spell Accuracy increased by 25% - 100%. Rank F.
Note: Exceptional rewards offered due to exceptional achievements on first kill while still under the Tutorial guidelines applied. No further skills will be acquired in this way without finding a training tome, expert, or other learning method to gain a skill.
Seeing the message, Laura could only smile slightly as this was the best starting point she ever had in any of her playthroughs. Though admittedly most she was playing as Claudia who had the wealth and prestige of a dying, but still powerful country to back her as she made her way. So finding most of these skills were as easy as going to the Von’Roseblade library and reading a few books. The fact that Karen had been given the five best skills available from the Von’Roseblade library was not lost on her as she stared at the notice.
There was a brief pause, as the world seemed to give Laura a chance to feel the changes fully taking form in her body. Then her updated character sheet came.
Name: Karen
Magical Affinities: Current Rating Maximum Rating Primary: Combat Support F S Secondary: Spatial F S Tertiary:
Attributes Current Rating Maximum Rating Strength: F B Dexterity: C B Stamina: D B Perception: D A Intelligence: B S Magic: B S
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Abilities: Death Sight – Can see and talk to spirits (might cause minor problems when interacting with people).
Bloodline: Yes, awakened Survivor’s Bloodline: Your body is exceptionally good at taking every ounce of resource from food converting it to fat, that can later be turned into extra mana. Every percentage of bodyfat increases your overall mana pool by an equivalent percentage.
Perfect Combat Support Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of a Combat Support spell. All Combat Support related spells are cast as if one Rank Higher. Perfect Spatial Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of a Spatial spell. All Spatial related spells are cast as if one Rank Higher. Perfect
Skills: Ranking Dual Casting F Mana Exertion Casting F Mana Circulation F Sneak Attack F Focused Casting F
“Not a bad start, if I do say so myself.” Laura said smiling a bit to herself. If this was one of her rerolls, then this was so far a perfect reroll, as she managed to cast all three spells perfectly the first time. While casting the spells perfectly was something she knew she could do, seeing it done was an entirely different feeling. Then somehow targeting the one vital spot of an ambush predator that was almost perfectly concealed in its surroundings was a blessing.
After the self-proclamation and a slight smile filled her lips, a new system message came to her.
Do you accept this character to be your permanent avatar?
Pausing, Laura smiled as this might be the Downloadable Content that she had been waiting for. The ultimate update or storyline two. A complete ‘what if’ scenario where it showed a world where Karen was not bound by contracts and servitude to the Von’Roseblades.
Seeing this, Laura could only smile widely as she answered. “Hell yeah!”
Chime.
There was a sound as something seemed to shatter. A thin layer of protection that seemed to separate Laura from fully immersing herself in the avatar of Karen was broken.
Concurrence with chosen character confirmed. Allowing for full integration.
There was a twist, and then a slight burning sensation as Karen felt like her body was being forcefully changed and stretched.
Then she felt herself falling, but before she did, she saw one last message from the system.
Tutorial Ended. Warning: Death now will result in your own permanent death, as you are now Karen and Karen is now you.
Thud.
Laura landed on the ground, her body crumpling into a tightly quivering ball, as it felt like all her nerve endings were suddenly coming to life and being burnt away on the spot.
***
Shuffle-step.
I awoke to the sound of heavy feet dragging across a dirt road.
“Hey, did you hear there is a new magician in town?” A man said casually.
“No way, was that today at the awakening ceremony?” A second man replied back.
“Yeah, was the old drunkard’s daughter if you can believe it.”
“That poor girl, I always felt sorry for her.”
“Yeah, well she is set for the good life as the King’s guards are set to retrieve her in the morning.”
Hearing that, I paused, trying to understand just how much time had passed since I jumped out the window above. Looking up, I see my old house, and the window to my room, wait, that isn’t my room, that I Karen’s room? Or so the thought hits me as I feel that my room has become an odd amalgamation of Schrodinger’s room, where it is both my room and not my room at the same time.
Before I can get too far in my own thoughts, I am immediately pulled back to the present by the two people talking.
“Hey, do you see that?”
“Yeah, looks like old man Williams left his lights on again.”
“No, it looks to be coming from between the houses, don’t you see?”
Hearing that, I look down and see the brightly glowing crystal that appears to be inside a massive and over microwaved hot dog.
Pulse.
Just thinking about microwaves and hot dogs causes my mind to pulse slightly, as visions of my death come back to me. Suddenly I remember everything. The odd tutorial, the inadvertent sticking of keys in the microwave, the resulting explosion and then my somehow being here.
For a second I just stare as my mind tries to process the two sets of memories that seem to be bleeding into each other.
Heavy-shuffle step.
Then I am pulled from my musings by the thick heavy steps of people dragging their feet in the streets.
At that I quickly reach down, grabbing the stone that tingles at my touch.
Skill Crystal Acquired: Dormant Skill: Camouflage.
Seeing the message, I realize that this is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that it is a skill crystal, one that has the latent memories of a master of Camouflage embedded in it, meaning I can consume all the energy from this stone and gain the skill.
Or, I can keep the stone as a never ending light source, knowing that if someone else finds it, they will likely consume the stone before I can do anything about it.
Being as it is night and I am still apparently unable to see well without a light source, I quickly grab the fist sized stone, then wrap it tightly within my vest.
That is enough to cause the light to die down considerably. If I look closely, I can see the glowing object clearly appearing through the threads of my clothes, but it should be enough to help me hide.
“Huh? What happened?”
“Looks like old man Williams finally went to bed after all.”
The two speakers said as I could hear their feet walking up the path by the two houses. Hearing them, I immediately dart from between the two houses and in front of my house. Well, it is actually the side, but it is on the side that is the exact opposite of the two talkers. I assume they are a pair of roaming guards, but I don’t really know, nor do I want to know. At this moment, I know that if I am found I will at best be given back to my father who will sell me to the Von’Roseblades, or at worse have my skill stone stolen from me first, before I am then handed back to my father.
I am sure there are likely a few worse scenarios that could come from this, but I can’t think of them currently.
Instead, I remember this village. This is bandit camp four, or the village that will eventually turn into bandit camp four, once the main story starts. I begin to make plans as details of this village come to my mind. There is a long fence surrounding the village and only two ways in and out, at the north and south sections of town. Each entry point has two guards, with two roaming guards that go and eventually relieve one set of guards on duty, before being allowed to eventually relax as well. There are two guards who are on duty by the chief of this village, so a total of nine guards in all.
Additionally, this is the village that also occasionally has the random wild animal appear, with anything from a barking dog to alert of your presence, to the mutant mini-boss coiling serpent.
Pausing for a moment, I don’t think I can take everyone. Then I realize that I don’t need to take everyone here, as all I need to really do is escape. Then thinking about the situation, I realize that escaping is relatively easy, rather than breaking through without making any noise or being caught, all I really need to do is leave here through one of the myriad of holes under the walls, misplaced or rotting boards that can be removed and replaced easily.
I choose to go with the easier breaks, a part in the fence line where I have memories of myself and a few of the other kids from the village running through and going to the nearby forest.
No wait, these aren’t my actual memories, but they are as real as if they were my memories.
Getting to the spot, I look at it, and I feel a slight heaviness set over me.
I know I am leaving here, and part of me is very excited that I get to do so with relatively little issues. As of right now I have not lost any political favors with anyone. I haven’t run afoul of the law, nor have I lost any relationship bonds that will impact future storylines. Honestly, this is as clean of a break as I could ask for in order to be able to go out and explore this early on. So why do I suddenly feel so nostalgic for staying?
Then I realized that these aren’t my thoughts. Well, they are my thoughts, but they are part of the new thoughts and memories that were pressed onto me.
Sadly, even my new thoughts know that I need to escape from here.
Exhale.
Letting out a deep slow calming breath I let my mind calm down, before I force myself to take first one step forward, then another. Each step moves me closer to a dark forest that looks completely foreboding and unforgiving. I could take out my skill crystal here to help show the way forward, but I opt not to, realizing that I am still too close to the guards who might see the light and therefore come out to investigate my departure.
No, if I am going to do this correctly, I need to do this completely in the dark all while drawing as little attention to myself as possible.
Stepping forward, I feel something in my mind snap. An invisible tether that bound me to a place, time, and fate that were not my own. While walking forward I felt freedom with every step I took, slowly using each step to unburden my mind with fears and what ifs.
Plop.
I land, taking my first true step in the open world that I have come to love. An with that first step, I took in a deep breath of dense musty air that let me know I was already in the forest and I exhaled knowing that I was free.
No, not just free. I was where I truly belonged.
Right here, in this moment I was the most free I had ever been in two entire lifetimes. No more wondering if an abusive alcoholic father would beat me or worse. No more fears of trying to pay rent, afford my internet packages so I could continue immersing myself into the online world.
No, at this moment I was Karena and Karen was me.
I truly felt alive and free for the first time in seemingly two lifetimes.
Then smiling to myself I said the two words that made the internet famous. The only two words that seemed oddly appropriate for where and how I found myself. I still didn’t know if this was some big elaborate death dream, or if I had been reincarnated as a beloved but neglected character. Regardless of the reason, I was here, and I was determined to take as much advantage of my situation as possible.
With a giant Cheshire grin on my face, I exclaimed that I was here to say.
I did so by uttering the two simple words, “hello world.”