Chapter 2
A second chance
I blink at the cat and rub my eyes.
“How did I get back here?” I ask, trying to not freak out about the talking shadow cat.
“Just a dash of transportation magic.” It replies. “You know normally people freak out when one of us talks to them, how odd.”
“My headache is too bad to freak out.” I reply.
“I can fix that.” Replies the cat, stamping a paw down.
My body suddenly feels lighter for a moment as energy ripples through my body, my headache vanishing in moments.
“Honestly the moment for freaking out has gone now, so uh what exactly are you?” I ask.
“My name is {°￠}\^×^°(_!(#-”) which can''t be understood by your human mind so you may call me Shade, I am what''s also known to few as The Shadow Cat, I am an ancient being that looks upon the world watching humanity for entertainment and I got bored so here we are.” It replies. “You may also refer to me as a female, though I do not have gender, the female gender is the one I like the most.”
“So you''re a God?” I ask.
“Essentially.” Shade replies.
“So you only did this because you were bored?” I enquire.
“Pretty much.” She replies. “Any other questions?”
“You said something about magic right, magic is real?” I question.
“Well you wouldn''t be breathing if magic didn''t exist and do you see a normal feline carrying you home all on their own?” she asks, gesturing to herself with a paw. “Also your device has been vibrating a lot during your sleep, I believe that seems important.”
“Wait shit I didn''t return back to work, shit shit shit.” I say grabbing my phone.
I turn it on and check my messages.
Messages 9
Missed calls 7
Emma
Hey, are you finished yet? 11:00 am
Hey bitch where are you at? 11:30 am
You ok? 12:00 pm
Where the fuck are you? 12:30 pm
Bitch seriously are you ok? 13:00 pm
I''ve called you like 8 times I''m calling your mom. 13:30 pm
If I find you alive I will kill you. 13:40 pm
Your mom says you''re asleep in your room, bitch you''re still on the clock!!!! 13:45 pm
When you wake up we need to chat. 14:00 pm
“Shit I might lose my job.” I say.
“A pity, there are better jobs you can get you know, especially with those gifts I gave you, speaking of.” Shade says stamping her paw.
A floating text box appears in front of me.
—--------
Name: Cassie Kelly
Class: Shadow Cat Pact Warlock
Level 1
Stats:
12/12 HP
22/22 MP
Str 5
Dex 13
End 6
Per 11
Mag 11
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Char 3
Int 8
WILL 7
Luck 21
Active Abilities
Black Cats Luck: Slightly reduces damage taken in relation to Luck stat.
Storage LVL 1: allows you to store items in a small dimension only accessible to you and your patron, quantity limit is increased with level.
Skills
Hunter''s Instinct LVL 1: enhances sight, smell and hearing temporarily.
MP cost 5
Duration 10 secs
Stealth LVL 1: Temporarily enhances your ability to Sneak, slightly reducing the noise you make and making you slightly harder to spot.
MP cost 5
Duration 20 secs
Access storage: Retrieve or store an item quickly.
MP cost 5
Duration N/A
—-------
I read all the text over several times.
“Shit this is like an RPG.” I say. “And my luck stat is insane.”
“That was what I had in mind and you''re one of my warlocks, of course you''d have a high luck stat.” She says. “I''ll also throw in a quest board to give you some motivation to entertain me.”
The box vanishes and is replaced by another.
—----
Quests
Urgent quest: Return to ARONZONE and speak to your boss.
Rewards: 30 XP, a can of Dr Pepperoni.
—-----
“Oh that''s uh, that''s pretty neat thank you.” I say.
“Your welcome warlock, now one last thing now before I leave you.” She says.
A black vortex appears in front of me and a deep black knife floats down out of it.
—---------
EQUIPMENT OBTAINED
Kittens Claw LVL 1 (Rare)
Weapon class: Knife DEX
A small deep black knife that shares a deep connection with the warlock''s soul.
Effects:
+1 luck when equipped.
Cannot be picked up by anyone other than the patron or warlock.
If dropped returns to the warlocks inventory after 1 minute has passed.
Grows with the warlock.
—-------
I grab the weapon and look it over.
It''s a deep black knife that seems to distort the light that hits it as if it was a black hole shaped into a blade, its handle was a normal black.
“Try activating your storage skill.” She suggests.
I hold the knife in front of me and focus on it.
“Access storage!” I shout, but nothing happens.
The cat snorts and shakes its head.
“That was quite humorous, but no that''s not how you activate skills, well most of them anyway.” she says. “Focus on your body, think of the mana in your body as blood, pumping back and forth in your veins, then focus on your hand, I imagine your mana being pumped into that area and bloating up, then imagine the knife being consumed by that vortex.”
I focus my mind and my body, my mana is blood, my mana is blood.
I focus hard and I see it in my mind, a blue vapor that moves throughout my body and I picture it flowing to my hand and pooling up in there.
I feel something draining it slowly before a black vortex opens and I stick my knife in it causing the vortex and knife to vanish, I feel like I''ve lost some of my mana.
A box fills my vision
MP 17/22
It quickly vanishes.
“And that''s the basic principle of how magic works, for each skill there''s a different way you have to use to cast it but I am sure you will figure that out.” she says. “Well I''ve shown you the basics and I''ve given you what I promised, now GO FORTH my warlock and entertain me.”
She smirks before her form fades in front of me.
“Fucking Mondays.” I say to myself checking my phone. “I get mugged, sell my soul to a god and get RPG powers, just one of those days ahaha.”
The time is 16:00.
My quest box appears in the corner of vision reminding me that I need to see my boss as soon as possible.
I throw my legs out of bed and stand up.
I leave my room and see my mom in the living room watching the telly, she turns to look at me.
“Are you ok Cass? I didn''t hear you come in, you wouldn''t wake up when I shook you and your boss was freaking out.” Mom says.
“Yeah I''m fine mom just felt ill after delivering everything, I had to cycle all across town and I think the burger I got on the way there had something wrong with it, I''m fine now tho mom seriously, don''t worry” I say.
“Are you sure honey? You promise?” she asks.
“I''m sure, I promise mom don''t worry.”
She gets up and walks over to me and pulls me into a hug.
“I love you daughter.” She says.
“I love you too mom.” I reply
“Now get to work and apologize to your boss and explain what happened ok?” She asks.
“Ok mom I will, see you later.” I say before zooming off outside.
My bike is right there mag locked to our bike rack.
“She even brought my bike home, that Eldritch horror cat is pretty nice.” I say to myself, hoping on my bike and disengaging the mag lock.
I ride my bike towards work, feeling like the bike is taking me less effort to pedal than it usually is, must be my stats.
I ride for 5 minutes before seeing my workplace coming up in the distance, I speed up and drift my bike into the bike rack and engage the mag lock, I''d never been able to do that before, every time I''ve tried I ended up falling off and scraping my knee, these warlock powers are sick AF.
I approach the doors dreading how pissed off my boss is gonna be.