Chapter 5 – Acquaintances
Loria Point of View
“Loria…?” Gel responds to the profound idiot within my mind. Why did she verbalizing her thoughts?! I attempt smother her inside my mind, like one would with intrusive thoughts. Without success, it now feels as if a paper wall divides us. Except the whole vocalizing thing.
“Ah, hah, not a funny joke, right?” He stares at my poor attempt to pass it off.
“What joke? What did I miss?” Once again the clueless tenant uses my mouth. MY mouth! With the intensity of a cat caught by the tail, I will my tenant to shut up. In the meantime, Gel wrinkles his face while simply staring. I must look absolutely insane to him right now.
“You’ve stayed inside your room too much haven’t you?”
“Ahem, pardon me. I, uh, need a moment to… to adjust my corset! Yes, that thing! Be right back.” His face flushes redder than a rose as I angrily retreat behind a hedge wall.
The lecture begins. Apparently she isn’t hearing my inner monologue now. What changed?! “Listen here, miss tenant, you can’t just start using my voice whenever you want! If you just start stealing my voice all willy-nilly then everyone shall think me insane!”
“I mean. They might be right? Two voices in the head and all that. I’d give a certification of insane to us both when –“ I cut her off and retort verbally.
“No. No, no, no. I am sane. You are insane. You are in my head haunting me. So quiet! Speak in my thoughts and only there! Do not verbalize. Zip. Zill. Mute. Do not make that appear even worse to others! Especially Gel!”
“What? I am thinking in your thoughts. It’s you who are verbalizing my thoughts to your boyfriend!”
“My what?! No! That is a falsehood! Slander! Lies! Impossible! All of the above! Damnit all! Just stop talking with my mouth!”
“I am trying!”
“No don’t yell!”
A very concerned Gel speaks around the wall, his voice only partly muffled. “Loria? Are you okay?”
A panicked reply escaped me, “No! Just… this corset frustrates me, is all. Lele pulled the ribbons too tight! So, I need to excuse myself. Catch up later!” A rapid exit with a damn good excuse if I do say so myself.
Soon, I find myself alone within my bedroom. Door shut and locked. Well… alone is not “You! You just ruined my image in front of my best friend, you stupid… stupid whoever or whatever you are!”
“What? Best friend? The way you were flustered I’d think you both had designs. Especially given how quickly you rejected the notion.”
“No! No designs! It’s high time we had a reckoning!” I shout while pacing circles into the rugs of my room. My cheeks flush with shame at the thought.
“I’m game for that. We should find an agreement until things get resolved. What are your terms? I defer to you since this is, apparently, your body.”
“Good. Term one, no more talking through my mouth in public. We need to learn how we were talking inside our thoughts initially and get control over this… situation. Term two, we are not to let others know of our condition.”
“I can work with that; however, I have some for you too. Term three, you’re to use my name, because being ‘that thing’ or ‘tenant’ is quite insulting. Term four, we find a way to resolve this that doesn’t kill either of us.”
“I can agree these additions. So, before we do anything else, let us resolve three then. I’m Lori. Do you now recall your name, or have you thought of one?”
“A Latin word I like: Ultima Vita, Ultima for short, or Ul. I’m basically saying I am the farthest from life, or this is my last life. That’s why it sort of fits, no? My last life?”
I pause mid step, eyes wide with surprise. “You know such an ancient language?”
“It isn’t that old. Only like, two thousand or so years. Why, do you know it?”
“It was the language of an early civilization from long ago. I can dig that out of the library sometime if you like, Ultima. Yeah. That sounds Pretentious.” Her name feels weird on the tongue, but it does sort of fit her.
“Well now I have MORE questions… and what’s the harm in sounding self-important in a world that works like a video game? Oh! Speaking of games.” She does a 180 on the topics. ”Did you hear all those dings that woke me up? We should check your game menu.”
“My what now?”
“The thing with all the numbers.”
“Ah! We call that the mage, magic, or magi system… the name varies by culture really. Last I checked my menu was broken, probably thanks to you Ultima. I’m not sure if it will be useful.” I briefly concentrate and the system appears. “Ah…”
> SYSTEM MESSAGES:
> Congratulations on leveling up (x8)
>
>
> You have gained the legendary skill: Duality Level 1
> You have gained the legendary skill: Reincarnate’s Memories Level 1
> You have gained the rare skill: Sun Resistance Level 1
> You have gained the rare skill: Card Manipulation Level 1
> You have gained the rare skill: Multi-Mana Casting Level 1
> You have gained the rare skill: Cheating Level 1
> You have unlocked Sari’s Blessing’s Features.
> You have unlocked Card Master’s Features.
> You have unlocked Special Reincarnate’s Features.
>
> Please remember to review the descriptions of these abilities.
>
>
> Due to Special Reincarnate’s Features and Duality Level 1, memories of the past will gradually be reintroduced.
> Due to Special Reincarnate’s Features, you have gained the title Filthy Cheater.
> Due to Special Reincarnate’s Features, you have gained the second name Ultima Vita.
> Due to Special Reincarnate’s Features, you are informed that Sari thinks your new name is stupid and that the title of Cheater best suits you.
> Due to Sari’s Blessing, you now have 10 available uses of Sari’s Wheel of Fortune!
> Due to Sari’s Blessing, you now have 1 available key for any Special Content Crate.
>
> Please note that any Special Content Crates will need to be unlocked with keys and not draws. Please note that Sari is not required to provide drop odds nor a list of prizes. Receive gifts at one’s own risk.
CLASS
NOBLE
LEVEL
10
XP
100/500
NAME
Savella Loria Rall, Ultima Vita
SPECIES
Vampire-Demon Hybrid
TITLES
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Princess of Thavera
Princess of The Dark Realms
Filthy Cheater
MANA
BLACK, RED, .̷,̶<̷`̸u̴'̷;̴'̴
k̸`̵~̸RPLE
HP
914 / 1000
STAMINA
200 /200
MANA
1 بعḖ 0 / şƧٖ
WILL
0Ḩⅎ‴4/▄ꜫժ
Available Draws
10
SPECIAL STATUS
Special Reincarnate, Vampire, Demon, Daughter of Demon King
Skills
Common: [History LV.5] [Literacy LV.5] [Etiquette LV.5] [Flirt LV.1]
Uncommon: [ Mathematics LV.5] [Diplomacy LV.5] [Blood Hunger Suppress LV.1]
Rare: [Multi-Mana Casting LV.1] [Card Manipulation LV.1] [Cheating LV.1] [Fire Magic LV.1] [Shadow Magic LV.1] [Blood Magic LV.1] [Night Owl LV.1] [Sun Resistance LV.1]
Legendary: [Duality LV.1] [Reincarnant’s Memories LV.1]
Special Afflictions
Boons: [Hybrid Entity] [Night Owl] [Sari’s Blessing] [Card Master] [Dark Alignment] [Fire Alignment] [Special Reincarnate]
Locked: [Roaming Dungeon LV.0]
Curses: [Vampire] [Death by Fire] [Child] [Weakness to Holy]
“Wh-what?! Level 10?! I was two yesterday! I’m only supposed to gain a level every five to ten years! More than that if I go out of my way for it. Wha…what the heck?”
“We gained tons of XP and leveled for some reason. I doubt Sari just gave it out either... what were you doing?”
“Standing in the garden with Gel, chatting about our parents, then trying to regain some sense of childhood by playing out in the mud and afternoon sun.”
“Sun. That has to be it. You’re taking damage from the sun of course! Duh! You’re a vampire!”
“The sun only ever bothered my eyes! Why would I suddenly become weaker to the sun?” A quick turn in my pace and I’m in front of the mirror. There are severe sunburns from where I had been out in the sun only briefly. “WHAT?! HOW? WHY? WHEN?!”
“Only thing I can think of is Night Owl negated whatever resistance. Sari did say I hated the sun. Simple fix, we level up that sun resistance! That said, we have an easy way to level up. I propose we abuse this until its resistance is high enough that we’re back to norm.”
“… I hate you. Yet, you are right. This is a short-cut to my goal to be strong for father.”
“Let’s try sunbathing at high noon tomorrow, on the roof? I mean, you’ll be burned but…”
“I’ll take our umbrella and have a way to stop exposure if needed. I do not intend to ruin my beautiful skin more than necessary. Talking aside, let’s review what we’ve been given.”
> SYSTEM MESSAGES:
> Duality Level 1
> This skill is applied to both entities within one body. Both entities share the same system status as if they were one individual. At level one, both minds can share the burden of operating the body at a cost of 10 willpower per minute. Advanced levels eventually permit independent operations, simultaneously. This skill affects all aspects of your existences. May be leveled through practice or Sari’s Games.
>
> Reincarnate’s Memories Level 1
> You are able to access more useful memories based on the level of this skill. The high the skill level the more likely a useful memory may be acquired at a useful time. Not all memories are subject to these skills and by default may be permanently locked away or permanently available. May only be leveled through Sari’s games.
>
> Sun Resistance Level 1
> Your sensitivity to sun exposure is decreased by the level multiplied into 5%. For each numerical percent, the damage points received is reduced by twice that value. May be leveled through the receiving of solar damage or Sari’s Games.
>
> Card Manipulation Level 1
> You are a filthy cheater. You can manipulate the outcome of any cards to possibly fall in your favor. The higher your skill is, the more likely you are to narrow the probability of a favorable outcome. Leveled through use or Sari’s Games.
>
> Multi-Mana Casting Level 1
> You are capable of casting more than two mana types into one spell, or the combination of two spells of different mana types. The resulting spells, if unknown, must be discovered by the user through trial and error. Level of magic that may be used is equal to half the skill level times the level of the user. Leveled through use or Sari’s Games.
>
> Cheating Level 1
> Once again, you are a filthy cheater. You have a knack for cheating at games and strategy. Unforeseen approaches to problems may be revealed to you through the use of this skill. Leveled through use or Sari’s Games.
>
>
> Sari’s Blessing’s Features
> The vast majority of skills you earn will be through traditional Vampire and Training methodology. After having unlocked these features: future skills will always start at Level 0 and be nearly useless to a filthy cheater like you. In exchange for this however, fair compensation is provided through Sari’s Wonderful Game System!
>
> All level 0 skills will need to be earned through luck of the draw! Please note that opportunities to play are gained through your primary leveling, frustration, sweat, blood, and tears. Have fun Cheater!
>
> Note: this does not apply to skills provided by masters or deities, according to another sore loser. PS: Did I mention you cheated, Ultima? What a tacky name...
>
> Card Master’s Features.
> Provides a cheater access to Card Manipulation and Cheating. You are able to field cards as a weapon. You are able to store magic into cards. You are able to store cards in cards. You are unable to cheat with cards you have made.
>
> Special Reincarnate’s Features
> You are a reincarnate. You will have a natural background buff to certain skills. You will naturally attract more trouble. You will naturally find opportunities to help people. You will have access to the HERO system at level seven. You will have a fate to defeat the demon king or die trying. ERROR
>
> HERO system: ERROR-4004 - [Oops! Our bad, something unexpected has occurred. Please contact Seven Administration Team and have the Error # available upon receipt of prayer.]
>
> Title: Filthy Cheater – you make your own luck. Once per day you may avoid an obvious foil.
>
> Due to Sari’s Blessing, you now have 10 available draws on Sari’s Wheel of Fortune!
> Please draw from the Wheel of Fortune and see what you get!
>
> Due to Sari’s Blessing, you now have 1 available key for any Special Content Crate.
> Please locate or receive a Special Content Crate. Please note that any Special Content Crates will need to be unlocked with keys and not draws.
>
> Please note that Sari is not required to provide drop odds nor a list of prizes. Receive gifts at one’s own risk.
A moment of silence passes as I try to understand all that just happened. “That isn’t even everything, just the stuff we really wanted to know. I’m not sure if you’ve ruined my life or made it better.”
“It’s not my fault. Sari pretty much forced this onto me. I can’t believe that bastard actually implemented loot boxes into a real world...”
“Loot boxes?”
“An ancient, cursed item from my own world. Hated by all, used by many. Only one way to find out what we can get... Shall we investigate those and ignore the things we don't understand yet?”
//////////////////////////////////
Elsewhere in the multiverse. One of the red-haired workers screams out in anguish as she flips her desk. “ANOTHER! ANOTHER! It was never meant to have this many people trying to be synced into the hero system.”
There is a groan as a different worker rolls her golden eyes. A long, loud sip from a coffee mug interrupts the frantic screamer. “We designed it for one person to live out the story of a hero, or die of age and retire. It was never meant to be used by more than one person; you know? Why did you go gambling with Sari?”
“Of course, I know! I’m you! You gambled just as much as me! We all did! Idiot!”
“How can you be me anymore?! You hate coffee! You don’t even wear the same tie as me!”
“Coffee is nasty, and I like lime-green ties! Goes with my outfit!” Suddenly, even more voices chime in as another great debate begins. In no time the entire office of look-alikes are at each other’s throats.
“I like pickle juice!” “Suspenders are classy!” “Pineapple on Pizza!” “Ketchup on ham!” “Who took my stapler?!” “I think pies are gross.” “Why did we remake mosquitos?”
Only one of the women sits in silence, slowly rubbing her temple as she types out an automated reply to the HERO users:
> [SYSTEM NOTICE: Ongoing issues prevent access to the hero abilities. Please be patience while we figure a solution out!]
Somewhere in the world, beneath the heavens on high, the hero Roland just stops dead in his tracks. “What the fu – ”