His meditation session had been fairly relaxing. Virgil had come to see him and they had talked for at least 2 hours as here they didn't have to worry about spending mana to keep him around.
He read the 10 pages he needed for today and received his 100 exp and 1 small gold.
Their conversation was interrupted when Prism flew in and began screaming at him.
Though a couple seconds later a pale blue light engulfed him and he began to calm down.
Much to his surprise, here Prism could speak. His voice was one you might expect from an owl. Sort of like an old woman speaking but not quite.
He didn't speak of many things, mainly his worry at being found though he was slightly reassured that at least they couldn't follow or get to him at the moment.
"What do you mean by that?" Dante asked curiously.
Prism looked at him like he was an idiot then flapped his wings and shook his head, remembering that he knew more than Dante here.
"They may have seen your face, they may know we are here but they cannot reach us here for now. If you recall I was being chased when I came through that little doorway of yours, and even though they hunted me they did not follow. Why do you think that is hmm?" He said in a somewhat mocking tone.
For a moment he considered if it were better when Prism couldn't talk shit to him.
"...If I recall fae things correctly...they weren't invited through the doorway only you were." He replied.
"Correct. They could not reach beyond the boundary you had created for they lacked the permission to do so. However there is still the issue that they know your face. They caught wind of us when you walked that road. Now they know which zone we are in specifically. It is only a matter of time until either they find someone to let them in here and we are forced back to your world, and then they have a much easier time catching us." Spoke Prism, his feathers puffing up as his anxiety rose.
He seemed to be a rather nervous person who would probably be flipping out if not for Beacon of Hope.
The three simply sat in the grass, or in Prism's case, stood and talked for a few more hours till Dante felt it was morning.
Skill, Time sense has leveled up! Lvl. 4...
----------
Skill Beacon of Hope has leveled up! Lvl. 2->4...
Intellect has surpassed 100!...
Calculating rewards...
Something is awakened within you..
You have obtained the Uncommon active ability, Telekinesis lvl. 1...
Telekinesis- You have gained the ability to move objects with the power of your mind. Efficiency, strength, control, range all increase with skill level. Strength and range increase with Int. Can function in areas without magic...
Psion I road has opened to you...
Charisma has surpassed 100!...
Calculating rewards...
Your Singing skill has evolved to become the Uncommon active skill Battle Hymn...
Prior effects maintained...
Skill level is reset to 1...
Battle Hymn- You are a man of people and as such you raise your voice for all to hear. As you sing you raise up your allies and bring down your foes. Small buff to allies stats and debuffs to enemies stats per level of the skill. Mild increase to range per level of the skill. Effects increase with your Charisma. Additional effects variable. 10 Health, mana, stamina per second..
-------------------
Dante took a deep breath as he awoke.
He got up and cleansed himself and remembered he had lost his socks and so he bought new ones.
"A small silver for a pair of socks..." Dante grumbled as he put on his newly acquired socks, donning his boots once more. A moment later he was down with his party eating breakfast and conversing about what he had been up to the previous day.
"Hey I want to test these new skills I have if you don't mind?" Dante asked, looking around the table.
"So long as you don't disturb the other people eating I don't see why not." Was the general consensus that the rest of his party reached.
First he wanted to test out telekinesis. So, looking down at his pancakes and then to his utensils he tried reaching out with his mind.
Slowly the fork began to levitate before it came to a halt in mid air. A couple seconds later the butter knife rose to its level as well.
Slowly he began to cut his pancakes with his utensils using only the power of his mind. It was the oddest feeling like stretching a muscle in his head he hadn't known was there before.
His parents looked at him in mild shock, as did several other people who up until that point had been enjoying their breakfasts.
Carefully he fed himself sliced up sections of pancakes and smiled.
Skill, Telekinesis has leveled up! Lvl. 2...
Still smiling he grabbed the fork and knife from the air and began digging into his breakfast in earnest.
"So what was that? Are you magneto now? Lord of all metal objects?" His father asked jokingly after the initial shock wore off.
"No...when my Int got past 100 I got telekinesis. Which is basically moving things with your mind." He replied with a bit of a cocky grin before continuing to eat his pancakes.
"So what's the other one? You said skills right? What's the other one?" His mother chimed in this time.
*Sigh*
"Come on, I'm eating! I'll show you after breakfast alright?" He replied in a tone of annoyance.
"Fine, fine..." she replied with a wry smile, his father laughed when he saw that look, and Dante grimaced. All the while Califa just looked confused.
---------
Soon enough the time came and before they departed. Dante stood and walked to the middle of the room.
A bit nervously he spoke.
"Um... Excuse me everyone if I could have your attention for a moment." He spoke to the room, waiting a moment for eyes to settle upon him.
"Hi, I'm Dante and I was hoping all of you wouldn't mind helping me test out a new skill of mine. You don't have to do anything but listen." He spoke as calmly as he could despite his nerves.
A moment later a murmur of approval could be heard and so taking this chance he sang a little tune. The beginning of one of his favorite songs.
Carry on my wayward son by Kansas.
"Carry on, my wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more." A small mutter of approval rose up before several people rose to their feet.
Skill, Battle Hymn has leveled up! Lvl. 2...
The man who spoke was about 20 feet away from him in his estimation.
"Wait a minute! What skill was that? I had extra points in Strength, Con, Endurance, and Will there for a few seconds!" The man exclaimed as Dante motioned behind him for his party to leave. He slowly began backing up as several other's rose to their feet.
'Ok not a bad range for a low level skill. Probably is being boosted by my Charisma.' he pondered as he weighed his reply.
"It's an evolution of the singing skill. It's called Battle hymn. And I really must be on my way!" Dante said as he turned tail and ran out the door was held open for him by his dad.
Dante’s group quickly split up and vanished amidst the busy streets.
---------------------
10 minutes later they had all arrived at the huge set of double doors that served as the Northern gate to the Town of Beginnings.
It took them a moment to find each other among the small crowd of people, his father clasping him on the shoulder and congratulating him on his new skills.
The got in line to head out the gates when he noticed his parents holding their Adventurer licenses.
In a moment he brought out his, suspecting that Califa had told them they might need them when they got to the gate.
He arched an eyebrow as they got closer to the front and he saw beyond the gates. He saw people running around like chickens with their heads cut off almost seeming to be chasing something.
In the distance he saw the small grove of trees that surrounded the large pond where they had arrived little more than 4 days ago now.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
It amazed him how much he had changed in only 4 days. It was the morning of the 5th day now.
Soon enough it was his party's turn to be inspected. They showed their guild cards to the guards on duty, one of them recognizing them.
"Hey aren't you the guy with the bird!? I heard you put on quite the little display at the adventurers guild yesterday." The guard said in a playful tone.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are we good?" Dante asked as the guard manning the gate gave them back their cards before motioning them on through.
Dante and his party tread down the gently sloped hill side only turning back for a moment to gaze upon the large and imposing stone city walls. Upon the walls men stood watch, spaced ever 20 feet.
Their first stop would be the pond, then they would make their way towards the dungeon he had heard about every now and again.
As they continued beyond the immediate area of the walls they came upon the group he had seen earlier. The ones running around and shouting, they finally caught a glimpse of what they were trying to catch.
Something golden streaked through the green grass. The more he watched it the more his eyes adjusted to its incredible speed.
+1 Per...
He saw a rather large rabbit with a shiny golden fleece. It was probably worth a pretty penny...copper? Never mind.
"We should help them. I hear those rabbits are worth upwards of 500 small gold if you can catch them alive and in good condition." Said Califa as she looked at him.
"I suspected as much...What do you guys think?" He said turning to his parents. They looked at each other and laughed. His father was the one to speak.
"Dante, this system may have made us feel a bit younger, but we're still in our 50's. If you want to, we'll sit back and enjoy the show!" He said with a smile. Laura and Frank took a few steps back to sit on a small hill giving them a clear view of the chase.
When they arrived they found the group of six people breathing heavily, clearly having been trying to catch the rabbit for some time. "Do you guys need some help?" Dante asked as they drew close to the group, causing them to all turn their heads at once. One of the men took a large fluffy ball to the gut for his distraction, he swore.
A man about his age and height stepped forward carrying what appeared to be a tarnished bronze spear. His hair was salt and pepper and his eyes were blue as the sea. Wearing what appeared to be leather armor that had been dyed light blue. "Hey there. I'm James Jones, but you can just call me James. You said you would be willing to help us? I would be really grateful for the help." He said as he stretched out his right hand for a handshake.
Dante reached out his own hand and shook the man's hand, squeezing lightly trying to gauge his strength. It was only when he had put in about a quarter of his full effort did the man's face change. Satisfied he released the man's hand.
"And you would be miss?"
"Califa."
"The pleasure is all mine."
The man clearly was taken by her otherworldly appearance but quickly regained a semblance of composure.
"As you can see the goal is capture with as little damage as possible. Can you help us out?" James asked, only receiving a smile from Dante.
Reaching down he picked up a pinch of dirt before grasping Califa's shoulder. She looked at him confused for a moment.
He raised up his hand snapping his fingers Prisms appeared and immediately took to get an Aerial view.
Then he spoke.
"Longstrider, Expeditious retreat." He spoke and the magic took effect.
Longstrider made them a little faster and while in the game Expeditious retreat had a range of self, now it had a range of touch and upcasting meant he could affect more people.
The world almost seemed to slow as the two spells took effect on each of them. It reminded him of the Haste spell.
Califa smiled in genuine surprise before racing off, to help catch the rabbit. One second she was there the next she was 10 feet away.
He smiled before he too gave chase.
---------------
To an outside observer it was as if two there were two blurs trying to catch a third much smaller blur. The chase lasted all of 10 seconds before Dante finally managed to keep a beat on the rabbit long enough to grab it with telekinesis.
Suddenly the chase was over, and they had won!
Skill, Telekinesis has leveled up! Lvl. 2->4...
It had taken considerable mental focus, not to mention line of sight, to catch the rabbit with telekinesis but in the end they had won.
Dante held the wriggling rabbit in the air where it would have no means of running away.
Quickly, he began adding to the mental construct he had used to capture the rabbit as to restrain its movements.
Skill, Telekinesis has leveled up! Lvl. 5...
It certainly was strong for a rabbit, and heavy. But as he got it closer a notice appeared.
Congratulations! You have discovered, Golden Rabbit! +200 exp, +5 small gold...
1/1,742 creatures catalogued...
'Huh, need to remember I have that quest...' he thought a moment as James and his party of six slowly approached all looking dumb struck Dante smiled and spoke.
"So, do you have a cage or something?" He asked, but they looked at him confused for a moment before realization dawned upon them and they rushed into action.
The largest man in the group, a man whom he learned was named David Cullman opened his inventory and produced what appeared to be a large mithral cage. The space between the bars almost seemed to...
'Oh wow that's a warded cage. They must really not want this thing to escape.' He thought as they opened the door of the cage. Slowly he placed the rabbit into the open cage before the door was closed on it.
The second the cage door closed he lost his hold of the rabbit, as if the cage had managed to block his ability. The rabbit shot like a pinball around the cage but it did not so much as vibrate.
It seemed to be an...extremely warded rabbit cage.
"So, we are getting our cut for actually catching it right?" Dante asked with a smile.
+1250 exp...
'Huh...10,000 exp split 8 ways?' he thought, then a smile grew on his face.
'Now that's a good chunk of experience!'
---------------------
20 minutes later Califa and he were 125 small gold richer. It seemed that the one who had commissioned them to catch a Gold Hide rabbit had offered 1000 small gp for a living specimen.
Dante watched as off to the side the other women in their party walked up to James before giving him a kiss on the lips which he reciprocated. She appeared to be Asian woman in her late 20's to early 30's with shoulder length black hair. She was wearing what almost seemed to be a flowing robe similar to a kimono.
'Priestess? No, her hands are wrapped so I would wager monk.' Dante thought for a moment. When they were done they stood side by side holding hands. Turning his head for a moment he was about to ask James a question but in the end decided to redirect it to her.
"Are you his girlfriend?" He was almost certain already as to the answer.
"Yes, I am his and he is mine. Thank you very much for catching the rabbit for us. My name is Reo Fujiwara." She said as she held his arm between her breasts. Dante looked to James only to see him smiling dumbly due to the placement of his arm.
"Nice to meet you as well." He said.
'She seems like a mix of ferocity and quiet charm. An odd combination...' he thought with slightly narrowed eyes.
Then he looked to the pale women standing besides David who stood in front of her almost like a shield.
Dante approached only for the women behind him to gently push him aside. She was a pale thin woman her height average, hey eyes a common brown. Her hair...she didn't have any. It looked as if she had been shaved a while back, leaving her with extremely short blonde hair.
"Hello, I'm Dante and you would be?" he asked only for the guardian to immediately but in.
"Taken!" David spoke defiantly, glaring at him. The woman slapped him gently in the chest.
"Shush you. Hi, I'm Hannah. It's a pleasure to meet you." Hannah said as they shook hands, he was careful not to squeeze too hard given how frail and thin she appeared.
"If you don't mind me asking what your class would be?" he asked Hannah. David once more was about to step in but Hannah silenced him with a miffed look. David folded his arms and pouted.
"I am an acolyte. I got the class after I arrived and was healed by some Priests of a Sun god. They said something about not letting such a bright light burn for a short time or something. I would wear the robes but they are a bit stiff." She explained with a small smile.
Nodding, Dante turned to David, nodded again and walked over to the two remaining members of James's party. The first appeared as a fairly thin and unremarkable man. He had brown eyes and messy brown hair. He stood nearly half a foot shorter than Dante by all appearances.
The other however, while still shorter than himself by several inches, appeared to have a well built body. He carried no weapons and had a simple yellow shirt and blue jeans. Dante approached the two before extending out his hand. "Nice to meet you guys. I'm Dante." He stated simply.
"Jacob Ashwin." Said the well built man. The shine of his sapphire eyes mixed with his red tinted skin was enough to indicate his mixed descent.
"Herald Smith." Said the second man in an uneasy tone. He gave almost no force to his hand shake, retracting his hand no sooner than the shake was completed. Dante could hardly see the man's eyes as he avoided direct eye contact. His skin was pale as if he had never seen the sun. This stood in stark contrast with his raven black hair.
Shaking hands with one and then the other he asked another question. "What are you guys' classes?"
Jacob looked to Herald for a moment motioning for him to go first but he refused as he took a step back. Jacob simply shook his head before speaking. "Sorry for my friend, he is a bit reclusive. The only reason he's out here is to level up with us. Anyway my class is something fucking amazing! I'm..." He paused for a moment. Then Dante saw something amazing.
A golden shimmer began to emanate from the man. As It grew it lifted him into the air. It grew until it stood no less than 10 feet tall. What had come from this man was the shining translucent figure of a great bear. "I am a Totem Master!" He said from his place several feet above the ground. Suspended in air within the bear form.
The form of the bear spread its arms and lifted its head as it let out a great bellow that echoed across the Zone. Three seconds later the form of the Great bear began to dissipate, depositing him gently back upon the ground.
"Let me guess. You ran out of mana?" Dante asked with raised eyebrows and a small smile upon his face.
Jacob looked somewhat ashamed, "No, it just used it a few moments for a demonstration! The skill that makes that is called Astral Form. It's amazing but chugs mana like a shitty engine. It doesn't help that I don't have too much mana. It costs 600 mana a minute for god's sake!" He exclaimed with both pride of his class and skills as well as disappointment with his own lack of ability to wield them.
"How does it work?" Dante asked curiously.
"It works similar to being a summoner, I have to contract every creature I want to use." He stated, waiting for the oncoming questions.
"What do you mean by that? Can you elaborate?" Dante asked
"Where a summoner might just get this or that summon when they get to a certain level. I have to go out and make contracts with either living or dead creatures in order to utilize them for my class." Jacob said hoping his expanded explanation would now suffice.
Nodding Dante turned to Herald and waited a moment. "I'm a...Codic Wizard." He stated plainly, clearly not wishing to elaborate.
His eyes twitched for a second as the words sank in. Where the others here for the most part have tremendous power now. His class held potential beyond belief.
"That means you're a programmer right? I'll be honest with you here..." Dante paused for a moment, causing Herald to ball his fists waiting for the disrespect to come.
"That's one of the greatest classes I've heard so far. I can see you probably haven't even realized just how great you can become thanks to your class and skills." He said with genuine praise and admiration.
Herald for the first time looked up from the ground and looked him in the eye. He could see tears beginning to form in the man's eyes "You mean that?" he asked, his voice beginning to break.
"I do. I think one day you will be able to write programs that can affect whole worlds. You'll basically be typing on god's console." Dante stated, adding and exaggerating that last part as he could see doubt and distrust creeping into Herald's eyes.
A bright smile formed upon Herald's lips and he snapped his fingers. As he did so a small green and white song bird appeared upon his shoulder.
He knew it was a song bird as it began to tweet a small tune.
"This is Song. He's my Familiar." Herald said as he gently rubbed the bird's head, which from its cooing it seemed to enjoy. It almost seemed to give off its own faint white light.
Dante raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
"Cool and it would appear you chose celestial to replace beast nice. Do you want to meet mine?" He asked curiously. A nod of approval.
"You might want to put yours away just in case. Fair warning." He said, eliciting a look of mild concern and curiosity from Herald. He did so.
Dante snapped his fingers again and Prism appeared with wings tucked by his side.