《Collateral》 Prologue: Collision Prologue: Collision *beep beep beep beep beep bee- click* Groggily waking up to the sound of my alarm clock, I stretch and try to get up¡­ but the bed sheet embraces me like a lover finding her long lost love. I succumb to the temptation and lay back down hugging it back. ¡°Wake up Cas it¡¯s the first day of school!'''' a feminine voice says and I feel a weight on my stomach. I opened my eyes and it¡¯s my childhood friend sitting on my belly and looking down on me. Amabelle Carlson, we¡¯ve been friends since we were 6. She and her family moved next to our house back then so I was her first friend here. She¡¯s half Asian but it¡¯s really not noticeable. The only reason I know that is because I¡¯ve seen her father and he¡¯s Asian too. Wait a minute... ¡°Ughhh did mom let you in again? I thought I told her not to let you come up here.¡± I say while getting her off me and heading to the bathroom to freshen up. ¡°She told me but I went anyway.¡± ¡°Note to self, buy a lock. Anyway, can you wait downstairs I¡¯m gonna get ready.¡± She pouts and heads downstairs before shouting, ¡°Oh! You have like 15 minutes to get ready for school!¡± ¡°Ah f%#*@!¡± -15 Minutes later- ¡°*pant pant* Did you really *pant* have to take a HUNDRED pictures of that dog? *pant* We almost didn¡¯t make it to the bus!¡± ¡°We made it *pant* didn¡¯t we?¡± she said grinning and sweating like an idiot.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I wiped my sweat off and laid my head back so I can at least sleep for a bit before school. I grabbed my headphones before glancing at Amabelle staring at the pictures she took of the puppy. I started nodding off once the music started. I notice something wrong as the background noise was too quiet. I opened my eyes and¡­ huh? I was on a bus earlier right? Am I dreaming?I can''t hear anything. What is this place? All I see is white, no horizon, no ground, no sun, nothing just pure white. What a weird dream. I blinked and the scenery changed suddenly, I¡¯m standing in the middle of a... plaza? But something¡¯s not right, the sky turned red and¡­ things suddenly came out of the shadows. They look like eldritch horrors described in those Lovecraftian books. I turn around and it¡¯s chaos. People are running around and screaming. It all feels like a scene from hell. What the hell is this dream? I feel the world-shaking. Reality is shattering and falling apart around me. Is someone calling my name? I look around and see no one. I close my eyes to focus on my hearing. -as caS ¡°CASSIUS!¡± I jolt awake to see Amabelle shaking me awake with a panic-stricken face, pointing to the window. I look out and see a truck coming towards us at full speed. The driver waving and honking at us frantically. ¡°There¡¯s a truck coming towards us!¡± I shout towards the driver. ¡°I know boy! The gas pedal is stuck! We can¡¯t move out of the way¡± ¡°Open the doors!¡±. I look around frantically for the hammer used to break the bus¡¯ windows. ¡°They¡¯re stuck! We can¡¯t make it!¡± I look out the window and see the driver bracing for impact, still slamming the steering wheel. I immediately lunged towards Amabelle to try and protect her from the collision. I close my eyes and brace for impact. *honk honk honk honk honk hon-crash* Chapter 1: Accident [Edited] Chapter 1: Accident ¡°MOVE THE F$@K OUT OF THE WAY! COME ON!¡± I scream to no avail while pressing the horn on the steering wheel and simultaneously trying to steer my brakeless truck away from the bus. ¡°F$@KING MOVE!¡± I catch a glimpse of a teenage boy, looking worriedly towards me. Waving my hand erratically, I try to warn him of the impending danger. Thankfully he seems to have gotten the message and warned the other people on board. Good! Refocusing my efforts on using the steering wheel but it¡¯s miraculously unmoved from all my effort. Nothing in the vehicle was working apart from the horn, which I¡¯ve been pressing since earlier. ¡°WHAT?!¡±, I shouted, noticing that the bus is also immobile and people inside are panicking as much as I am. ¡°S#$T!¡± Finally losing hope, I try to open the doors but they¡¯re closed shut. A few seconds away from hitting the bus, I braced myself from the impact. *honk hon-crash* ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!¡± An excruciating pain assaults me as I feel my entire torso being crushed by the cold metal of the steering wheel deforming from the crash. My vision slowly filled white and red as the pain quickly increased in intensity along with the number of sharp metals jabbing into my whole body. NO MORE! MAKE IT STOP! And it did. Confused and befuddled from the agony that disappeared as quickly as it came, I opened my eyes only for them to be stung by burning bright iridescent whiteness of the room. What?! Where¡¯s my truck?! Was that all just a dream? WHERE THE F#$K AM I?! ¡°Hello!?¡±, I tried speaking out only to be bewildered by the lack of sound coming from my throat. What the h@#l is going on?! Okay¡­ breathe Cas. Focus, look around. Assessing the room, I see that it¡¯s circular with me in the centre. I¡¯m currently surrounded by huge, black seats. Or maybe they¡¯re thrones, there¡¯s quite a few. Behind me is a door with a similar colour to the thrones. Looking up, I find a galaxy-like ceiling. Pure black with white star-like dots here and there. What the hell is this? I need to get out of here... I tried walking towards the door but the lack of tactile feeling on my feet makes me look down and notice something odd. Where are my legs? WHERE ARE MY HANDS? I hold up my hands and can still feel like they¡¯re there but I can¡¯t see them. I put my possibly non-existent head in my non-existent hands. What the h$#l?! Breathe¡­ in¡­ and out¡­ in¡­ and o- *click* A sound, similar to that of a door opening, echoed loudly through the whole room, interrupting my breathing meditation. I loop up towards the door and see a man wrapped in multiple chains, carrying a¡­ bucket and a mop? ¡°Excuse me! Where am I?!¡± I scream, forgetting the fact that I possibly have no throat right now. He snaps his head towards my direction before staring agape. ¡°Can you hear me? Please tell me, where am I?!¡± I ask again, making him flinch and drop the cleaning equipment on the floor. Turning backwards, I hear a click as he closed the door as quietly as possible. He then proceeds to check the rest of the room before hesitatingly turning towards me. ¡°Hello? Talk to me g%#!%it!!¡° He walks towards me, seemingly unsure of what to do. ¡°Wha-¡± His chest suddenly splits open with hundreds of bloody chains bursting out of it wrapping and pulling me inside. ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!¡± I scream trying to hold onto something to resist the pull. Gripping nothing, I turn towards the hole in the man¡¯s chest, bracing as I get sucked inside. And then blackness. Infinite unending blackness. Looking around I can''t see anything, not even myself. Another unknown thing that''s happening?! Okay, think... thnk... Waiting for what seems like forever, nothing happens. Just as I resolve to collect and process the weirdness of my current situation, I¡¯m interrupted by sounds echoing in the void. ¡°Wait¡­ I can hear voices! Hello?! Is anyone there?!¡± But no reply came. D@$#it! Breathe Cas, do I even breathe at this point? Nevermind just breathe in¡­ and out¡­. I calm myself down while trying to redouble my efforts in listening to the voices. ¡°@#!@$ #(!% $#r chance to m#@! @$@#¡± ¡°But wh@#$ #@%! @$!$@# $@!atch us!?¡± ¡°It will be $@# $#!@ $#@#, @#!# @#rry.¡± ¡°@#!$@ bless it?¡± ¡°#@!$%@tiple bl@#!@ings. @#!@$% $@!$soul¡± ¡°@#$%@!$^&@$¡± Everything else was gibberish after that. Damn it I¡¯m so sick of this! Just let me die in peace! Suddenly, I feel myself get sucked out of the blackness into a world of light. My non-existent retinas burned once again, but through the mist of white, I can see dark silhouettes of people surrounding me. What now?! Who are you people?! My eyesight gradually recovered and I look around once more. A crowd of people are circling me, wearing different articles of clothing from different eras. As I was about to try and speak once again, some of them point at me mumbling incoherently under their breaths. I feel something warm inside my chest making me look down towards it, seeing nothing but a bright light. *ZHOOM* A titanic hooded figure suddenly appears in the middle of the room in front of me and puts its hand on my head. Trying to dodge was fruitless as I can''t really move without limbs. I look up only to see a mist of blackness within his hood. I tried asking it about what''s happening, but ending up with the same silence as before I look around to the other people in the room instead. They look frightened, trembling from this mystery in front of me. I notice some of them start backing away, only to be prevented from moving further by an invisible wall.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What is happening? Hello?¡± I ask the figure once again, having nothing else to work with but my voice which I don¡¯t even know if they can hear. I look again inside the hood, this time seeing a shadowy mist with eyes that feel familiar yet distant. Getting lost in the kaleidoscope of colours within its eyes, I time meaningless and important all at the same time. My thoughts and emotions are sucked away, decayed, turned to dust as the clock goes back and forth making me experience the birth and death of all things. The inevitability of time. All in an instant yet stretched towards the ends of infinity, I stay in that trance before being bought back to my current situation by a searing pain of burning inside my chest. Hot! HOT! AAAAAHHHHH MAKE IT STOP! The pain seemed to last forever in an instant, and as it seemed to reach a crescendo I fell into a world of blackness. ===== Cel@$!al $h*(ers ===== [POV Hooded Figure] ¡°Are you sure that was wise my lord?¡± A voice asks me from the side after what I have just done. A simple question with an obvious answer. ¡°No¡± ¡°Then wh-¡± ¡°Because this is how it should be.¡± I look towards them, them who have banded together to try and escape this wrongness. ¡°This is how it always has been,¡± I say finally before promptly going back to my domain. ¡°Then let¡¯s hope he survives.¡± ===== The Hospital ===== [POV Cas] It burns! It BURNS! IT BURNS!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH--¡±WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaah?¡± Wait, what? What happened? I felt like¡­ like I was burning from the inside. What? ¡°Congratulations ma¡¯am! It¡¯s a healthy baby boy!¡± A muffled voice exclaims from somewhere beside me. Everything feels dampened. My ears are ringing and I feel numb. I opened my eyes and felt the sting of bright lights assault me. I can see giant shadowy figures around me. Wait a minute¡­ I just screamed earlier! I can talk! ¡°Wajubaba!?¡± Wh-what? Wajubaba? ¡°Waghajahajaja?!¡± What¡¯s wrong with my mouth?! I try to feel my mouth with my hands, which are also extremely numb. It feels like blood is just returning from my sleeping limbs, that feeling of numbness. Without my control, I immediately formed a fist with my thumb sticking out, and sucked it. What?! No! Ughhh whaaa- A wave of sleepiness assaults me suddenly and I fall into unconsciousness for the second time today. [POV Phenea] ¡°He has your eyes, honey.¡± Julius smiled at me while looking at the baby. A baby. My baby. I still can¡¯t believe it, we have a son. I look at my baby, sleeping silently in my arms while sucking his thumb. He¡¯s got the same reddish-black hair as his father and the same rock plates. He¡¯s got my eyes though, that¡¯s always more important. This little boy will be a heartbreaker one day. I wonder what I should name him? Lance? Jeremy? Hmmm¡­ ¡°He has your crying face.¡± I giggled, teasing my husband who seems to be lost in a trance looking at our son. ¡°Wha-¡± I got it! ¡°Castiel! Our sweet little Castiel Newton.¡± Julius grumbles from the side, ¡°You already chose a name? What about me?¡± We talked about this before, but I didn¡¯t know childbirth would be this painful. And I deserve at least this one. I glare at him while holding little Cas closer, ¡°I didn¡¯t see YOU pushing anything.¡± ¡°*sigh* fine, fine,¡± he says while taking out a flip phone. "Let''s have the nurse take our picture of us." [POV Cas] Ughhhhhh where am I? ¡°Aghujaahaaaba baja?¡± I try to speak again but my numb mouth fails me time and time again. Resorting to my inner voice, I thought about the events prior. What happened to me? What was that white room? Who were those people? ¡°Gagh!¡± A surge of pain shot up my head derailing my train of thought. A wave of nausea goes over me and I feel myself fainting once again. [a few minutes later] Ugh, what the f$#@ was that? I just tried to picture their faces an- ¡°Aghu!¡± [a few minutes later] Stop thinking about it stop thinking abou- ¡°Nogha!¡± [eventually] Trucks! Think about your truck! Your awesome purple 8 wheeler. Ugh, I miss you, my baby, I hope you live your next life better¡­ I start thinking about the day before everything went to s#$t, distracting myself to avoid fainting again. ===== Back on Earth ===== [Half an hour before the accident] *ringtone plays* ¡®I¡¯ll take you for a ride on my garbage truck. Truck truck truck~¡¯ *click* ¡°Hello? Who is this?¡± I answer the phone groggily as I got up from bed, away from my sweet, sweet night mistress. I haven¡¯t had my coffee yet and I stayed up all night with truck maintenance. Which reminds me I, I need a new fuel val- ¡°Hey, Cas! Sorry I need you to run a job like right now.¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s Monday morning, and you know I don¡¯t do Monday mornings!¡± ¡°I know man. But this is a real VIP of our company and the OGs upstairs will kill me if we don¡¯t get this done ASAP.¡± I put the phone down and hang my head, contemplating if it¡¯s worth it to have my boss owe me a favour. ¡°Can¡¯t you get anyone else? How about Rick? Rick¡¯s a morning guy, right? Ask him da$@it.¡± ¡°I tried but none of them is answering. Please, man, I¡¯ll owe you if you do it his one time.¡± *sigh* Damn it¡­ I need my coffee. ¡°Fine, how did this even happen? I thought you tasked everything a week ago?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either man the note was lodged in my logbook. I don¡¯t even know why it¡¯s there! Anyway, meet you here 15 mins tops.¡± ¡°Twenty¡± ¡°Fine.¡± *click* I drop my phone and got ready to head out. ===== The Hospital ===== [Present time] I swear I couldn¡¯t move anything on that truck¡­ I couldn¡¯t even open my door to jump out. All I could do was press the horn... I must have killed those people on the bus too. But why didn¡¯t it dodge? Why didn''t they just get off the bus? I was quite far away and I know that kid saw me. Ugh, so many questions¡­ A pang of guilt assaults me along with the depressing thoughts of accidentally killing the people in the bus. D$$nit... Shaking my head to get rid of the thoughts, I opened my eyes to a world of white and vague shadow people, except they¡¯re more defined now. I can kinda see a figure with long hair carrying me That voice said ¡°baby boy¡± earlier... reincarnation? I mean with all the sh#t that just happened that would be the least surprising thing I guess. Should I defeat a demon king now too? Hundreds of thoughts about the current situation run through my head before I fall asleep for the last time this day. I¡¯m so tired... Chapter 2: Starting Up Chapter 2: Starting Up ===== Newton Residence ===== I¡¯ve been reborn for a few weeks now. I can confirm that I really am a healthy baby boy. Over the past few days, I¡¯ve started to see the world around me. At first, it was just vague shadows. Then as time passed I could see figures then colours and right now I can see just as well as I have before. All my senses are back to normal now but I still can¡¯t do anything other than that. I¡¯m still just a toddler. Just a toddler¡­ but not a human toddler. Honestly, this feels weird. Around a week ago I just noticed that I have flat, plate-like rocks scattered over the back of my hand and arm, my chest, and my heart, there might be more but I can''t see them nor reach them. I freaked out at first and tried to get them off but baby strength is not a lot of strength. It¡¯s a good thing I can see now and I noticed that my new father, Julius, had the same rocky armour on his temples and knuckles. They look cooler, sleeker, and more metallic than mine but maybe that comes with age. Speaking of the world, it¡¯s not my earth. I mean with the rock stuff on me it should be painfully obvious. The technology looks to be a bit more magical but I haven¡¯t seen much of anything outside of my room. I¡¯ve seen phones, lights, and what I assume is a baby monitor. And yeah, there¡¯s magic here. Phenea, my new mother, uses it to entertain me. She makes balls of light and blows air around me when she wants to play. *grumble* Ugh I¡¯m hungry¡­ ¡°My little Cas! Milk time!¡± Like a supermom, she appears immediately whenever I feel hungry. I suspect magic what else could it be? And no, she doesn¡¯t breastfeed me, as much as she might want to. Mom and dad are different species so mom¡¯s milk doesn¡¯t have everything that I need. *shiver* The thought of breastfeeding three times a day creeps me out. She mixes some sort of colourful powder in a milk bottle and shakes it up. ¡°*sigh* Why are you so quiet? I thought I¡¯d have an adorable baby that¡¯s always laughing and smiling whenever he sees his mother.¡± She makes a concerned face and looks at me, still shaking the bottle. ¡°You only act like that when I cast magic¡± ¡­I like magic okay? If you¡¯re wondering how I can understand her, this world¡¯s language is also more evolved than our earth. I don¡¯t know how yet, but whenever someone speaks they also send the intent along with the words. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re doing it intentionally or not but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve seen so far. ¡°*sigh* ¡± Phenea casts while stuffing my face with the baby bottle. So cool¡­ [4 months later] Life is dreary as a baby. I feel like a statue left in a corner of a room, no one really brings me out of here or points my head towards a window. However¡­ today everything changes. For I am MOBILE! "Ghyahahahaha!" I am speed I say in my mind as I focus on trying to get to the door quadrupedal style. As I get to the door I realize I¡¯m facing the next challenge before I get to explore this world... "Grrrrrrr..." The doorknob.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Maybe I can use magic to open it? I glare at the doorknob and reach out with my hand. ¡°Hnggggg...¡± Open open open open open open open openopenopenopenopenope- *click* ¡°Wah!¡± It worked! I knew I could do it! Goodbye, boring blue room! ¡°Oh! Cas why are you near the door?¡± Phenea says before picking me up. ¡°You can already crawl this far? Huhuhu my son¡¯s a genius.¡± I hung my head down in sadness. Nooo¡­ my magic¡­. ¡°Awwww why is my baby sad? Do you want to see magic? Hmmm ...¡± My ears perk up on the mention of magic. ¡°Gahujaberbajik!¡± I want to learn magic! Before she can say anything, Julius calls out to her. ¡°Honey! I¡¯m about to head out!¡± ¡°Be right there dear! What do you say Cas? Wanna send daddy off?¡± She asks me with a smile. I stare at her stunned. I¡­ I can finally head out this prison of mine! YES!! ¡°JETHS!¡± She kisses me on the cheek before carrying me downstairs. I look around as much as I can to take in the new environment, but it feels too much like a normal home. There are pictures of my parents, none of me yet though. Why are there weapons hanging on the wall? Weird aesthetic. I wonder while looking around. I also notice a black flat glass pane on a wall inside what I assume to be the living room. I really hope that¡¯s a TV ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally letting out Cas? I told you he¡¯s not as fragile as your kind. He¡¯s a D¡¯varf.¡± D¡¯varf? Is that my race? ¡°Oh shut it, I¡¯m just concerned he¡¯d take after me more than you. You know how our children are¡­¡± ¡°I know, I know.¡± He says while picking up his coat. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out now.¡± He kisses Phenea on the lips and leans his forehead towards mine. ¡°See you later Cas.¡± ¡°Baju.¡± ¡°Bye dear. Take care!¡± *click* The door closes and Phenea looks at me. ¡°Let¡¯s get you back upstairs eh?¡± She then proceeds to head towards the stairs What? No no no no I want to stay here! ¡°Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!¡± I cry while holding on to her tightly¡­ well as tight as a baby can anyway. ¡°Why are you crying Cas? Daddy¡¯s coming back later don¡¯t be sad.¡± ¡°Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!¡± ¡° Here¡¯s your favourite magic Cas! Look at the pretty light ohhhhh¡± ¡°Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!¡± *sigh* She stops walking upstairs and I stop crying. She looks at me weirdly before suddenly having a thought. She steps up. ¡°Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!¡± She steps down. ¡°...¡± She steps up. ¡°WaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!¡± She steps down. ¡°...¡± She keeps stepping downstairs till we¡¯re in the hallway. I could hear the cogs in her brain thinking about what just happened. She then looks at me with seriousness and concern in her eyes. ¡°I-is my baby afraid of stairs?¡± No! How do you even get to that conclusion?! ¡°*sigh* Maybe I can put the crib in the living room¡­* She then closes her eyes and¡­ a pattern starts to glow on her skin. They look like vine tattoos and they¡¯re glowing yellow. What is that? Is that magic too? Or is it her race? Can I have that instead of these rocks? My crib floats downstairs behind her, floating and following us to the living room. Telekinesis? She then puts me in it, smiles and pinches my cheek before heading towards the kitchen. "There you go Cas, I won''t let those evil stairs get you!" Alright, we have new things to stare at now! Mission accomplished! [4 months later] I¡¯m so bored of this room... Chapter 3: Signs and Symbols Chapter 3: Signs and Symbols It¡¯s been a year since I came to this world. How do I know? Well, it¡¯s my birthday today! I¡¯ve started shedding too. Yeah, I shed now, but only my extra rock bits are falling off. My rock bits apparently grow better ones slowly. It''s like hair... or maybe teeth. Ever since a few months ago I¡¯ve been getting switched between the living room and the bedroom. I¡¯ve seen most of this house now and I''m sick of it. At first, I was amazed with every piece of technology I saw here. Most of them are half science and half magic. The black glass pane I saw last time was a window. Instead of blinds, they can darken it as much as they want. I''ve seen some of the outsides but most of the time it''s too dark to see out. Shouldn''t babies be exposed to sunlight once in a while? It doesn''t look like my skin changed too much though. There is a TV and it''s a long thin white rod on a stand that projects a screen in the air it. There are interesting shows on it but most of them are either news, interviews, or documentaries. There might be movies and other stuff but I don''t know. Of course,the remote controlis also magic. The airconditioner-slash-heater is a fireplace shaped thing that has crystal-shaped logs in it. It glows red when it¡¯s a heater, and blue when it¡¯s an air conditioner. There¡¯s even a Roomba here except it¡¯s hexagon-shaped and is made of other tiny hexagonal Roombas that can spread out and work together. They can even go up walls and the ceiling. Mom puts her hand on it every morning, assumably to turn it on. I wonder if there¡¯re rock cakes¡­ Oh yeah, I¡¯m a D¡¯varf meaning I¡¯m kinda half rock or something. We need to eat rocks and minerals for our diet and that¡¯s what mom¡¯s been adding to my milk because she can¡¯t produce those. My mom¡¯s Efir¡¯esh, and they¡¯re like an elf-like or a fairy-like hybrid. I haven¡¯t seen much difference from a human in the previous world except that she¡¯s much lighter. She also has those glowing tattoos when she¡¯s using telekinesis. I do hope I also have those, they look cool. *click* ¡°Hey there Cas. Mom¡¯s waiting for us downstairs let¡¯s go.¡± He picks me up and we head downstairs to the dining room. We get to the kitchen and she¡¯s there with a small cake that has rocks embedded on one side of it. There¡¯s a stick stabbed in the middle of the cake. Is that the candle? ¡°Happy birthday Cas! Come here dear let¡¯s take a picture!¡± Dad puts me on a high chair and mom takes out her phone. She uses the telekinesis power she had to make it float and take a picture. *click* *flash* ¡°Okay now honey help him break the stick.¡± ¡°Gwha?¡± What?Julius puts the stick in my hand and snaps it. So we don¡¯t blow out the candles here then. Mom kisses me on the cheeks and I bump heads with dad. ¡°Happy birthday son.¡± He ties a necklace around my neck. I glance at it and it looks like a guitar pick shaped metal that has an engraved rune on it. ¡°This is a reminder that I will always be with you and I will always love you no matter what Cas.¡± ¡°What are you getting sappy for? He¡¯s 1-year-old dear he can¡¯t understand that yet. What if he chokes on it?¡± ¡°D¡¯varf men never choke on stone and metal.¡± ¡°Still¡­ isn¡¯t it a bit too early to give him that?¡± ¡°I always regretted having gotten mine too late. It¡¯s a stupid tradition anyway.¡± ¡°But maybe there¡¯s a reason for giving it to them too late? What if i-¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, our son is strong and smart he¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°*sigh* if you say so...¡± She kisses him and turns to me. ¡°Here¡¯s my present Cas.¡± She smiles before closing her eyes and mumbling in an unknown language. It¡¯s the first time I can¡¯t understand her. Tattoos glow brighter as her mumbled chanting go faster and faster. Wha- what¡¯s this? Light? It feels¡­ warm. She slowed down and her tattoos slowly grew dimmer until it¡¯s no longer visible. She smiles and picks me up before kissing me on the forehead.¡°Who was it that was saying that it¡¯s too early to give him imprints?¡± ¡°I know. I can¡¯t have your gift be better than mine! Cas will love me more now!¡± She hugs me tight while pouting at dad. I feel a bit woozy after what happened so I lay my head on her shoulder. ¡°Put him down and let him eat honey, we need to get going in a bit.¡± Rocks! Food! Actually, I don¡¯t know what kind of rocks they are or if they are actually normal rocks, but they taste like meat for some reason. Some taste like bacon, some taste like burgers, some melt instantly in my mouth, and some are crispy. At first, it was weird eating rocks but I¡¯m used to it now. I eat my food and they get ready for the day ahead. It seems like we¡¯re going out today! [An hour later] Mom had me wear a very woolly onesie and hat. It felt a bit warm but it¡¯s also fluffy and comfortable. Mom has been pinching my cheeks mumbling how cute I am. And I don¡¯t blame her, I¡¯m adorable. ¡°You ready Cas?¡± ¡°Jheyth!¡± ¡°Did you call a cab dear?¡± Mom asks while still playing with my cheeks. There are cabs? So there are cars¡­ there might be trucks too! I can remake my baby here with magic hehehehe... While I¡¯m giggling to myself dad comes from the kitchen carrying a bag with my baby food. Rock cubes¡­ yummm. ¡°It¡¯s right outside, let¡¯s go.¡± He opens the door and my eyes sparkle, excited to finally go outside. White. It¡¯s a white world of snow. We have a tiny front yard, about a meter away from the sidewalk. The houses are bunched up together it looks a bit like victorian London with more advanced and magical tech. It¡¯s so cold outside but I didn¡¯t even feel a chill inside the house? Magic is amazing. Wait.. is that¡­ the cab? No¡­ this... NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I tear up and bury my head in my mother¡¯s collar. It¡¯s a carriage. The cab is a motorized carriage.Even tho they had such anamazing version of the Roomba... ¡°Awww is my Cas afraid? Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s just a cab it won¡¯t hurt us.¡± She hugs me as I continue to wail my woes. ¡°Hey Phen! Jules! That your son?¡±, a neighbour shouts from a second-floor window. It''s the first person I see in this world outside of mom and dad. I can''t see too much detail from far away but he looks like a burly guy with a very thick beard. He looks like the kind of guy that can break trees in half with hisbare hands. ¡°No Robert, we kidnapped a baby that looks likes Julius because I thought he was cute. Of course, he¡¯s my son.¡± Mom says while rolling her eyes.I didn''t know she was this sassy.I think while she carries me with her inside the carriage. I feel my heartache again being reminded that we have carriages instead of modern cars... ¡°Sorry Robert, she¡¯s a bit mana deprived,¡± Dad says while getting on the coachman¡¯s seat. There''s a stick in front of him, which I assume controls this antique metal beast. Robert smiles and waves dismissively, ¡°It¡¯s fine I know the feeling. Have a good day you two!¡± I feel the carriage moving and look out the window absorbing the sights and scenery. Floating crystals on top of metal posts magically powered carriages, giant tv billboards. The buildings and houses look like modern victorian stuff. It looks like a painting, but the painter kept forgetting which era the painting was in. Eventually, we get to a clothing shop and mom makes me try a load of different baby clothes. Of course, being a good baby I cooperate and look cute or cooldepending if it suits the outfit. I don¡¯t get the point I mean I¡¯ll grow out of these anyway? I think while posing like a french baby. After an hour of that, we continue shopping for stuff before eating lunch at a restaurant. I see different kinds of races here, orc-like, beast-like, even tree-like people are here. What I find weird is that there are rarely any kids outside... I''ve seen like 4 kids and I think half of those were a height deprived race. There''s also rock shaped fries and they weirdly taste exactly like french fries.This is so weird... We continue shopping for random stuff like toys and new blankets for me and went home after a few hours. While going home I was thinking about what I¡¯m going to do in this world¡­ It¡¯s been a year since I came here. The house feels like home now. I¡¯ve been calling Phenea and Julius ¡°Mom¡± and ¡°Dad¡± for a while now, I don¡¯t even know when I started doing that. Should I still find a way to go back to earth? Maybe I should enjoy being here for now¡­ [5 years later] Chapter 4: New Plate Chapter 4: New Plate *snap**snap**snap**snap**snap**snap* ¡°Happy birthday Cas!¡± ¡°Happy birthday son¡± Happy birthday Cassy!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s eat!¡± Today¡¯s my 6th birthday! Uncle Robert, his wife Aunt Delilah, and their son Samson came and celebrated with us. They¡¯re our neighbours and we often spend birthdays and other holidays with them. There seems to be some history between my parents and them, but they tell me they''re just good friends from their past jobs. We aren''t related as far as I can tell, I haven''t seen any cousins or uncles in my 6 years of imprisonment. I did wonder if we had any extended family, but whenever I asked my parents they always had a bitter look on their faces so I stopped asking. I''ve been allowed to play inside the whole house and sometimes in the backyards. Our backyard is kinda big, almost as big as the house. Mom does gardening there and I''ve seen some weird fruits and veggies she''s planted. There''s a yellow eggplant kind of thing and it tastes exactly like tofu. Anyway, that''s what I have been doing for the past 5 years, just playing around with Samson, whom I affectionately call Sammy now. Sammy was born when I was 2 years old, I met him when he turned 1 year old, Uncle Robert and Aunt Delilah invited us to his birthday celebration and I had to babysit him throughout. Sammy''s half Sprigg, due to his mom being a Sprigg and his dad being Human, so he''s like a half tree or treant in fantasies. He still eats like an omnivore though, I found it weird but then I realize I''m literally eating rocks. He can transform his limbs into vines and trunks when he wants to. It¡¯s a little unfair when we play tag because his reach is way longer, but I¡¯m way faster than him for some reason. ¡°Happy birthday Cas! Come on open our gift!¡± Uncle Robert hands me a medium-sized box. I opened it up and there''s a brown hoodie inside. It was completely plain apart from a subtle tree bark kind of design. It looks cool but I¡¯ve been growing faster and faster recently. I almost look like I''m 2 years older¡­ ¡°Thanks, Uncle!¡± ¡°Your aunt Del made those and I added my own enhancements here and there. You see those marks?¡± He points to the bark-like markings. ¡°Those are the enchantments to make it grow with you. It can also use magic to make you more comfortable in most weathers and washing it won''t really be an issue. I added a bit more stuff but you can discover them yourself¡± He laughs and aunt Delilah elbows him. "You can ask me anytime if you want to know the other enhancements,¡± She tells me and pats my head affectionately. "Happy Birthday kid" ¡°But if you ask for help that means you give up! Ghak!-¡± Uncle Robert grins and aunt Del elbows him again, much harder this time. Magic Hoodie!!! I stare at the hoodie for a while before hugging them. ¡°Thank you so much!!¡± ¡°Happy birthday Cas¡± Uncle Robert ruffles my hair and smiles warmly. Sammy then comes up to me giving me a jagged piece of black metallic rock. ¡°I found this when we were playing outside! I wanted to keep it but it''s your birthday so here you go! Happy Birthday, Cas!¡± ¡°Thanks, Sammy!¡± I hug him and pocketed the rock. Hmmmm midnight snack get! Sorry, Sammy. Uncle Robert¡¯s family went back home after eating and we went out for my parent''s gift. They said it was special this year so I have to wait for a bit. The city hasn¡¯t changed much over the past five years, technological advancements have been mostly towards making the city safer from beasts and monsters. Most people aim to be adventurers or craftsmen, rarely do people go for research so technology really just depends on what people need right now. They have this mentality of ¡°If it works, it¡¯s good enough.¡± We get to the centre of the city, where the tallest tower stands. They call it the Tower, for obvious reasons, and it¡¯s like the main headquarters of everyone here. It¡¯s also where the barrier surrounding the whole area of the city originates from. The barrier''s mostly invisible unless you look closely you''ll notice glass-like hexagons covering the sky. Mom said something about siphoning magic from us to power it? I don¡¯t remember exactly but the more citizens there are and the stronger they are, the more powerful the barrier is.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. We go inside towards the reception area, where a row of black people is sitting behind a very long desk. And by black I mean literally, they look like shadow creatures of different races, like those video game characters you haven¡¯t unlocked yet. Even their clothes are the same colour¡­ wait are those their clothes or is that a part of them? Weird¡­ We go up and the shadowy face looks at us. ¡°Good morning Sir, Ma¡¯am. Can I help you?¡± it says with a surprisingly normal sounding voice. I was expecting it to sound like a monster or something. ¡°Yes, we¡¯d like to register our son for his first awakening.¡± First awakening? Is that this year''s gift? Will I get magic?! ¡°Oh! In that case please fill out this form first then proceed towards the door on my left.¡± She hands a form to my mom and it¡¯s just a bunch of normal questions like my name, date of birth, race, etc. After answering everything we proceed towards the left door and pass the form to the person standing in front of it. ¡°Everything seems to be in order, welcome to the Tower young man.¡± He smiles at me and makes way and opens the door then gives the form back to my mom. ¡°Woooooooooaaaahhhhhhh!¡± The doors open and I''m presented with a scene that looks like the centre of a mall where all the floors can be seen. There¡¯s a giant multicoloured crystal embedded in the middle of the floor that goes about halfway up the Tower. It looks like a jagged pillar and it¡¯s sending pulses of light upwards in random intervals. Is this how they power the barrier? Awesome! ¡°That¡¯s the Obelysk Cas, that¡¯s what makes it possible for us to live here without fear of ever being invaded or overrun by monsters,¡± Dad says to me, seemingly enjoying my awe towards that gigantic structure. ¡°It¡¯s so big!¡± I exclaim then mom smiles at me. ¡°That¡¯s just the tip of it Cas, there¡¯s more of it underground! Come on, let¡¯s go to the first awakener¡¯s plaza below¡± ¡°Mom, what¡¯s awakening?¡± I ask as we walk towards the elevator. The elevator looks like a circular platform and it projects a small barrier to keep the occupants safe. ¡°You¡¯ll know when we get there sweetie.¡± Mom answers me with a mischievous glint in her eyes. It looks like I have to endure till we get there ughhh ¡°Is this my birthday gift?¡± ¡°No son, this is something everyone needs to go through. It''s like telling the city that you are a citizen of it. We¡¯ll get your gift after this.¡± Oh? Is it just a citizenship thing? Noooo my magic... *ding* Oh so elevators ding here too. The barrier dissolves and it looks like an indoor plaza with shops on the sides. I can see a plethora of books, weapons, robes, armour, gadgets, and all kinds of random things in the stores. Teenagers are just milling about hanging out with their friends, it really looks like a proper park. The Obelysk is sticking out in the middle of the area seemingly piercing through to the upper floor and it looks like it continues further underground. How big is this thing?? No wonder people feel safe, there¡¯s a battery the size of a cruise ship powering the barrier. Maybe even bigger. Is powering a barrier the only thing it can do? We walk towards the middle and there¡¯s a building that¡¯s surrounding the base of the crystal. It has glass walls so I can see that there are a lot of kids inside, about as old as me probably. Mom passes the form to the guard in front who then nods and gives the form to me. ¡°Go inside and wait in line.¡± D#mn there are queues here too? I guess there are some things magic can¡¯t do. [around half an hour later] F$#@ing finally jeez!! Quick my a#s! ¡°Form please.¡± I pass the form to this stone golem-like man¡­ or woman I don¡¯t know. It reads the form and gets out this thin blue wooden plate and passes it to me. Don''t think about eating the golem don''t think about eating the golem don- ¡°Next¡± ¡°Uhhh what do I do with this?¡± I ask while raising the rectangle wooden plate. It''s about the size of an ID in the previous world and it has nothing it. It''s literally just a piece of wood with rounded edges. It grumbles and points towards an elf-like woman standing near the crystal. I walk over there and the woman smiles at me. ¡°Put your hand on the crystal and don¡¯t panic. It might make you feel bloated for a bit but just relax it won¡¯t hurt. Make sure you¡¯re holding your plate okay?¡± I nod and put my hand on the crystal and it pulses around my hand. Wooahhh whaaaat isss thiiissss??? The world got blurrier and brighter asI put both hands on the crystal to balance myself. I can feel something coming inside me like a current. There¡¯s a sting inside my eyes. I stay like that for what feels like hours before collapsing on my knee. ¡°You¡¯re okay, you¡¯re alright don¡¯t worry.¡± The woman helps me up and pats my back. ¡°Look at me, is there anything different? Do I smell different? Can you hear something new?¡± I opened my eyes I see a blue screen in front of me. ¡°We¡¯ll wait for you here Cas. It¡¯ll be quick don¡¯t worry.¡± Mom hugs me and dad pats my back. I go inside and see a huge line of kids awkwardly waiting there. Few are engaging in conversation but it looks like a lot of kids are not used to being away from parents. Kinda like me, I suppose.
Name:Unknown Race: Unknown Title:Unknown Classes: Unknown INSTANT DEATH DO NOT ENGAGE
WHAT? Chapter 5: Awakening Chapter 5:Awakening
Name:Unknown Race: Unknown Title:Unknown Classes: Unknown INSTANT DEATH DO NOT ENGAGE
What!? "Hello? Focus kid!" She taps on my face. "Anythingdifferent?" I snap back to reality and try to look at her through the screen. The screen instantly went away and I look incredulously at her. "I saw... blue?" "Ocular huh? That''s good. Anything else?" I try to sniff for new scents and listen for new things. I do feel some kind of heavy pressure like I''m underwater but I can still move normally. "I feel like the air is heavier too, it''s like it''s pushing me down but I don''t actually feel heavier. I can move like normal." I wave my arm up and down in front of me. "This feels weird..." "Intuition too huh. You got lucky kid! Not everyone gets more that one." She presents a tablet-like thing in her hand. "Tap your plate here." "My what?" "That plate you''re holding onto so tightly." She smiles. I look at the plate I forgot I had and tapped it on the tablet. Itflashes blue for a moment beforeshowing information about me. It''s mostly what''s written on the form they gave me and some other stuff like Titleand Class. It kinda looks like a generic game status screen combined with a birth certificate. "What is that?" "It''s a plate reader. When you awakened using the Obelysk it connected with youusing the excess magic pumping out of you. It''s the most used way to verify identities, think of it as an identification card so don''t ever lose it." She looks at her tablet again before looking at me. "Your status looks like it''s on the higher end. Your parents must be amazing." "Status?" I see her smirk before another blue screen appears in front of me.
Name: Castiel Newton Race: D''varf /Efir¡¯esh Titles: None(Shown) Otherworlder Bearer of Blessings Classes:None(Shown) Status: Healthy
Physical: 51F Endurance: 34F
Mind: 2E Magic: 7F
Traits Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 5 Aetherial Manipulation Lv 12 Sensory Enhancement(Ocular, Intuition) Lv 1 [Ocular - Status| Intuition - Magic]
Skills(Active) Accelerate Lv 3 Minor Telepathy Lv 7
"WOAH! What the f@#k?!" I exclaim as the blue window pops up in front of me. "Oh? You have quite a mouth on you eh kid?" She giggles and explains. "What you''re seeingis the status screen. Don''t worry, it onlypops up involuntarily the first time. Helps in letting newbies like you know how it looks like so you can call on it again any time. Think about it going away now." I do as she told and the window disappears. I think about it appearing again and it does. "That''s so cool!" "It is, now you hurry along towards that room for debriefing, I think they''ve been waiting for you for a while now." "Debriefing?" She doesn''t answer but just smiles and points to a cordoned-off area near the crystal. I go inside and there are 4 other kids there and a horned woman. The woman''s skin is yellowish and has two ornate horns sticking out of the side of her head.There''re a lot of races in this world I keep forgettingwhat they''re called... "And there''s the last kid. Hurry on in and we''ll start." I sit at the leftmost seat then the woman points at me. "Starting from the last kid, what type of enhancement did you guys get?" "Uhhh ocular?" "Intuition!" "Ocular." "tactile..." "Nasal?" "Oh? We have an Intuition here? That''s good. Does anyone here know anything about the awakening? How about the status screen?" She asks a question while taking notes on a tablet similar to the woman earlier had. We all look at each other, shaking our head saying no.Wait really? Does no one know? Was everyone as sheltered as me? That''s... a bit f$#ked up. "No one? Good, that''s intentional." We stare with surprise as she continues. " You see when kids know about it before awakening they have preconceived expectations about what they think they want to get. Having these thoughts would interfere and make the process slower, essentially making the crystal pump more mana into you. Everyone has an enhancement most compatible with their nature, their affinity. The Obelysk merely jump-starts them. If it awakens the wrong enhancement then that person will have a bleaker future than the rest." I raise my hand and she nods towards me. "Why don''t they do it earlier? I don''t think babies can remember stuff?" "Yes, but a baby won''t be able to take that muchmana and will die. Five-year-olds have a chance to survive, but six is the safest and earliest." she smiles then continues. "That''s also the reason why most of you haven''t gone out much in the past six years, it''s hard to keep information like this a secret if you''re always exposed to other people." "Why do we have to have the most compatible enhancements? Isn''t it just about sensing stuff?" The Intuition girl raises her hand after asking a question. The woman looks at the silliness before answering, "Well, let''s say your affinity is towards magic and you don''t know that yet. But because of your prejudgement, you expected to get an ocular one that can see auras instead. What do you think will happen?" "Uhhhhh... I won''t be able to learn magic?" "Not necessarily, but you will learn it at a snail''s pace compared to if you had gotten a proper enhancement. Remember, no skill is bad if used correctly. So even if you think your enhancement is bad, you can make the most use of it compared to others." "No more questions? Then let''s move on." She then points at me and asks, "Can you share what you see when you focus on me?" I focus on her, thinking about the window I saw earlier.
Name:Unknown Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Race: Unknown Title:Unknown Classes: Unknown INSTANT DEATH DO NOT ENGAGE
"I see a window like the status screen but it''s only filled with the word "unknown" and it also says''Instant death do not engage''" She flinches and looks at me incredulously. "That''s surprisingly an amazing enhancement! My name is Vidia, can you close the window and try it out again?" I try it out and...
Name: Vidia Race: Unknown Title:Unknown Classes: Unknown INSTANT DEATH DO NOT ENGAGE
"I can see your name now! It says name Vidia!"This would be so helpful with remembering names! "Interesting, it only says Vidia right?" I nod. "My whole name is Vidia Canderspach. Try it again now." She then whispers something to Intuition girl who shouted in surprise "You''re a Sprigg?!" A Sprigg? Spriggs have plant parts, that''s bs... "Try it again now"
Name: Vidia Canderspach Race: Unknown Title:Unknown Classes: Unknown INSTANT DEATH DO NOT ENGAGE
"I can see your full name but your race is still unknown" "You''re a very lucky young man, make sure to keepusing that it might see through lies one day." She winks at me. So her name was a lie? The window still said it though. But her race stayed the same... maybe because it''s an obvious lie? I mean I can clearly see she can''t be a Sprigg. "Now on to you young lady, you said yours was intuition so..." She went and figured out how each of our enhancements worked. The intuition one could feel presences around her. The other ocular one has thermal vision and night vision. The tactile could tell a person''s strength through touch. And the nasal one was interesting because she said she could smell magic. Miss Vidia summoned a fireball and she could smell it before it even appeared. I wonder how magic smells? "Now that that''s done it''s time to move on to the information in your status screens." She fiddles with a TV behind her and it extends then shows an example of a status screen. "The name shown there is your birth name, but it can change in various circumstances. If you have more than one name, let''s say a fake one, then the one you truly see yourself as will be the one that is displayed. "So I don''t think of myself as Cassidy anymore huh? I wonder when that happened... "The race is obvious. Titles are bonuses gained based on your achievements. There are no known ways to purposefully get a title so don''t worry about it. We''ll talk about classes later." She points to the attributes on the right side of the screen. "These your attributes, they''re a general estimation of the particular aspect of yourself. For example, two people with 5D in their Physicalattribute do not necessarily have the same speed. One might have focused on strength, the other might have been more focused on speed. Speaking of the values, average non-combat oriented people at their prime, without extra training or bonuses, will amount to having around 20D in everything. They can be increased with training or with titles, however, the higher you go, the harder it is to increase them." "Next we have traits and skills. Both are self-explanatory but for formality''s sake, a trait is something that''s connected to you biologically and naturally. Take for example me, I''m a Hihant so I have a trait thatlets me control me an overwhelmingly large amount of strength with little to no backlash. Skills, on the other hand, can be learned through study and practice, or they can be gained through blessings and achievements. Sometimes there are those born with skills, but those are rare. Skills can also be learned through levelling up your classes, which brings me to the last topic." She pauses for a bit, seemingly waiting for a question to pop up but none of us raises our hands.I think the info overload about their perception of reality and society is short-circuiting their six-year-old brains. She coughs then continues, "Classes are most commonly gained by apprenticing under someone. If you want to be a mage, become a mage apprentice. Of course, there are other ways of getting classes like blessings or through training and self-learning, but I advise you all to apprentice instead. Getting a class on your own will be slower than most and isalso a gamble." *creak* The door opens a little and an eye peeks inside. "Please wait outside I''m about to finish this batch." The door closes and she then turns to us.Feels like high school all over again. "Anyway... what was I talking about? Ah, right classes. When apprenticing under someone, they will give you tasks towards getting that particular class and will guide you to the most efficient way towards that goal." "This is the difference between self-learning and apprenticing under a master." She adds before continuing. "Basic classes then opens up to specializations which will advance your class to one most suited to your affinities. For example, a mage can class up and become a wizard, which is a general spell caster, or specialize with fire spells to become a fire mage." She puts her hand to her chin thinking. "I think that''s about it. Any questions?" The ocular kid raises his hand. "Is there any difference between learned skills and class skills?" "Ah yes about that, class skills will most of the time trump over learned skills. A fire mage''s fire will burn hotter, longer, and brighter than a normal mage''s fire. Unless there''s an extreme discrepancy between the skill levels and stats, class skills will always win. Any other questions?" No one else raises their hand. "All right, you can ask your parents about the stuff here anyway if you forget. But remember, don''t mention any of this to the kids outside it would be bad for them. You''re now bound to the same rule as all adults, you must keep this a secret to other kids." We nod and go outside the room, I head directly towards where my parents were.That was so much information... how did the adults even keep this much from us for 6 years? Well... I guess 2 or 3 years for others. Babies don''t understand anything. Still, my parents never mentioned this even when I was a baby? I see mom waving at me and dad smiling with a box in his hand. I go overthere andas I got closer I focused on them, trying to bring up that window again.
Name:Julius Newton Race:D''Varf Title:Unknown Classes: Unknown INSTANT DEATH DO NOT ENGAGE
Name:Phenea Newton Race:Efir''esh Title:Unknown Classes: Unknown INSTANT DEATH DO NOT ENGAGE
Wow, it''s either I''m really weak or that everyone trains to the point of killing a kid instantly. Or maybe both? Momhands me a small cardboard box, kissing my forehead and hugging me from behind while doing so. I raise my eyebrow and look towards dad "What''s this dad?" "It''s your birthday present son. Open it." "Yes! Cas open it!" Oh! I forgot it was my birthday! So much stuff happened I actually forgot? I open the box and it''s the latest model of a touch screen phone. "Woah!!!!" I hug both of them before fiddling with the phone. I tried to open it for a couple of minutes before looking at them for help. "Remember that wooden plate you got? Put it in the slot at the back. It should open up" Ohhhh it''s like a sim card. Or a battery? Neat! I mess with my phone till we got home. It''s almost identical to what a basic touchscreen phone would have back on earth, with additional stuff like plate reading and mana reading. It''s quite magical. I hang my coat telekinetically before going upstairs. Yeah, I have telekinesis, or apparently is what it''s called so there might be more to it. Mom and dad sit me down on the sofa and I tell them all about what happened inside. I also talk about my status window and what''s written on it, not mentioning the titles of course. They looked surprised when mentioned the skill. Mom asks, "What does that do Cas? Where did you learn it?" "Uhhhh... I don''t know? I don''t think I ever used it..." "Well, what does the skill say?" "What?" "Didn''t they teach you about skill descriptions?" I shake my head and she sighs in disappointment. "I can''t believe the briefers didn''t tell you. Just try to think about asking for the skill description of " "Uhhh okay?" skill description?
Accelerate Lv 3
Increases velocity in exchange for fuel.Reduction of fuel consumption as skill increases.
"Oh!" I tell them what it says and they look amazed. "Congratulations Cas! You have an innate skill! Plus it will be a helpful one no matter what class you choo-" She freezes all of a sudden. The atmosphere turned serious and they stay silent for a bit. Mom looks at dad then turns to me and asks, "Cas, do you want to goget a class from a school or do you want to get it from us?" "What''s the difference mom? And I don''t know your classes yet." "Mom can teach you how to be a mage or a ranger, and I can teach you how to be awarrior or a smith," Dad answers instead. Mage, ranger, warrior, smith, or something else from a school... I lower my head in contemplation. This decision will affect my future quite massively I need to choose correctly. "So... what do you want to be, son?" Hesitantly, I answer. "I want..." Side Chapter 1: New Tunes Side Chapter 1: New Tunes [POV Jack] *thump* "Aghk!!!" I awaken to a heavy object hitting me in the stomach. It''s my sister, Millie, as usual. She wakes me up like this everymorning recently.Even in this world sleep is too little... She then sits on my stomach and gets her face as close as possible to mine. She stares at me in silence before shouting, "Wake up wake up wakeupwakeupwak-aaahh!!!!". I push her off me to the floor. "Jeez, you''re getting heavier Millie." She stands up and glares at me before shouting again, "I am not!". *smack smack smack* "Agh stop hitting me!" "Stop arguing and get down here you runts!" A voice suddenly shouts from downstairs. Millie and I look at each other before running downstairs. Gurub, our guardian, is quite scary when annoyed. He''s annoyed all the time though, so I guess it doesn''t matter what we do anyway. We go downstairs seeing the rest of the kids in the orphanage already seating around the dinner table. Millie isn''t really my sister, but everyone here treats each other. We all have our stories, reasons why we''re here. No one talks about it though, and no one asks. Doesn''t mean they aren''t, quite the opposite really. I''m sure everyone has heard the muffled sobs and cries in the middle of the night. "Took you long enough to wake up." Eman grinned with his big toothy mouth. Back then I get shivers when he does that, his teeth look like shark teeth and I felt like he was going to eat me every time he smiled. I eventually got used to it after years in this other world. "Come on and sit! We''re hungry!" *slam* "Shut up and eat!" Gurub slams bowls of food on the table. We''re already used to it so no one flinches or anything and we just eat quickly and quietly before doing the dishes ourselves. Gurub then points to me "You''re on garden duty this week brat!" "But I have to go to the dojo today!" "Then you better hurry and take care of it before he comes by!" He replies before thinking a bit and pointing to another kid. "Jameson go help him!." Jameson nods and joins me outside. "Can I help too Gurub?" I hear Millie''s voice faintly. "Aren''t you on house duty brat?" "But I want to be with Jack!" "No, now start cleaning!" Jameson and I go outside and clean up the garden, pulling out weeds and watering the plants. We have a garden where Gurub gets a lot of the fruits and vegetables he cooks from. Jameson whispers to me, "What did you get in your awakening?" I look at him with an eyebrow raised before shrugging, "Hearing enhancement, I can hear a lot better now and a lot more things, you?" "Mine''s tactile, I can kinda sense where people are through vibrations on the ground."D#mn that''s way cooler than mine. Though I guess that''s why he''s been walking on his bare feet since he got back.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I turned six around a couple of weeks ago. Well, at least six years from when I was left here in the orphanage. Anyway, a week after I turned six we got awakened at the Pyllar, which is this giant smooth crystal tower that pierces towards the sky just below the great barrier. They say it was left by the gods when monsters start running rampant on the world. It was a way for us to fight back and protect ourselves against them. I call out my status window while doing chores.Status!
Name:Cassius(Jack) Race: Denia''me Titles: Jackson''sApprentice(Shown) Otherworlder Bearer of Blessings Classes: None(Shown) Status: Healthy
Physical: 66F Endurance: 42F
Mind: 3E Magic: 17F
Traits Bestial Physiology Lv 5 [ Full transformation ] Sensory Enhancement Lv 2 [Auditory - General Enhancement | Intuition - Presense]
Skills(Active) Acoustic Assimilation Lv 2 Minor Telepathy Lv 7
It still feels so surreal every time I see it... kinda drills the fact that I''m not on earth anymore. I get a bit melancholic thinking about my past life. The gods of this world pulled our souls from that accident and sent us to this world to fight.I need to find Amabelle as soon... those sick bastards won''t have their way with us... "Brat! Jackson''s here!" I get snapped out of my reverie by Gurub''s shout. "Coming!" I shout before going upstairs and grabbing my headphones and myquarterstaff. I ran outside towards where Mr Jackson is. "Mr Jackson you don''t have to come here to pick me up you know, I can come to the dojo on my own!" He waves me off nonchalantly, "Nonesense, I walk this way whenever I head over there anyway. Besides if I don''t come by who knows what time you''ll be waking up?" Millie comes up from behind, "Don''t worry Mr Jackson I''m waking him up the way you told me to!"Ah, so that''s why. I glare at her for that and Mr Jackson pats her head. "Thank you, Millie, now off we go Jack." He starts walking towards the dojo and I follow him. I met Mr Jackson for the first when I was on shopping duty, he was a nice old man that helped us with carrying the bags home. From then on whenever he sees me on shopping duty he always offers to help. I met him again after awakening when they had us attend an apprenticeship exam. They call it an exam but it''s more of an interview really. He actually runs a dojo teaching techniques usingpole weapons. Pole weapons like the staff, spear, halberd, and even the scythe are the most popular choices of weapons here. They focus on efficiency more than anything else, and it''s more efficient to teach those weapons as those are generally the easiest to start learning.It''s also probably the safest... well at least safest melee weapon. *clack* *swing* *bang* We arrive and it''s full of kids and teenagers practice fighting, either battling dummies or other people. It looks like a proper martial art school scenes you see in movies.Movies... I miss those. "Alright, go practice your basics with your fellow apprentices, we''ll focus on defending in the afternoon." He tells me before heading off to advice the other kids. I put on my headphones and with renewed determination, I focus on getting stronger to find my best friend as soon as possible. Wait for me Amabelle, stay safe I''ll come and find you. Chapter 6: Mirrors Chapter 6: Mirrors "I want... to think about it." They look stunned so I explained, "I don''t know much yet about which class would suit me best. I didn''t even know anything about classes and skills before this." I pause looking at their reaction. "I just want to learn more before choosing." There were was a few seconds of silence before mom hugs me and dad says, "You''re right son, you should get some sleep and think about it for now." I nod head upstairs to my room. ''My room'' huh, it''s been six years and I don''t know what I want to do here. Before I thought about finding a way back but what if there isn''t a way back? I would have spent my whole life for nothing then. As I lay on my bed I think about my whole life here and what I want to do for now. I check on my status again.
Name: Castiel Newton Race: D''varf /Efir¡¯esh Titles: None(Shown) Otherworlder Bearer of Blessings Classes:None(Shown) Status: Healthy
Physical: 51F Endurance: 34F
Mind: 2E Magic: 7F
Traits Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 5 Aetherial Manipulation Lv 12 Sensory Enhancement(Ocular, Intuition) Lv 1 [Ocular - Status| Intuition - Magic]
Skills(Active) Accelerate Lv 3 Minor Telepathy Lv 7
Hmmm... skill description.
Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 5
Increases your durability. Armour plates are regenerated through the consumption of material. Skill level increased through the consumption of material.
Aetherial Manipulation Lv 12
Control aethereal forces to physically affect objects around you. Power and radius slightly increase as skill increases.
Sensory Enhancement Lv 1
[Ocular - Status] Shows the target''s status information based on your current knowledge. [Intuition - Magic] Sense magic in a certain radius.
Accelerate Lv 3
Increase velocity in exchange of fuel.Reduction of fuel consumption as skill increases.
Minor Telepathy Lv 7
Allows you to convey meaning through telepathic waves accompanied by sound waves. The target must be withinearshot. Reductionof volume required as skill increases.
It makes sense that has the highest level. It was mom''s gift when I turned 1 year old and I''ve been using it a lot since my baby strength back then can''t do a lot of things I want to do. I don''t have the same vine pattern as Mom though, instead, tattoos that look like cracks spread from under my rock plates and glow dimly. is what people use to have a pseudo universal language. Of course, there still are different languages both written and spoken but most people just learn the common language writing as this skill is fairly accessible to everyone. What a day... I should probably sleep on this. I have a lot to think about tomorrow. I should probably also make a to-do list so I don''t forget stuff.I close my eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Ah"I almost forgot my midnight snackI grabbedthe rock Sammy gave to me earlier and looked at it for a bit.It looks like a rock... eh, whatever. I chuck it inside my mouth and proceed to sleep. Mmmmmm mint... was my last thought before falling into unconsciousness. |POV Julius| [The day before] "I know we need to consider what he wants Phen, but he needs to at least know how to defend himself." I say with exasperation "He needs a combatant class and as a D''varf it''s class he has the most chance to survive with." When Castiel was born I knew this would come up one day, I just didn''t think we''d put off this conversation until after he awakens.If only I wasn''t born as this damned race! She looks bothered and concerned, "What if he doesn''tchoose to have a combatant class? Are you going to force him to get one? Also, he''s not just D''varf you know, wouldn''t it be safer for him to be at a distance? He can learn magic instead, you''ve already seen him use my imprint from a young age." "Our son is smart, I trust that he''ll understand if I tell him to choose a combatant class," I say, trying to convince her. Or maybe I''m also saying it convince myself. I love my son and I care very deeply for him, but as a D''varf he has to be careful and learn how to protect himself. Although slavery has been outlawed, there are still people out there that will kidnap us to be sold in the black market. She hugs me and pats my back to comfort me, "You''re scared he''s going to get kidnapped, I get it. I''m also scared and concerned about that, but if we don''t give him the freedom to choose... we won''t be any different from those who want to cage him. Even if you say it''s for his own good." She kisses me on the forehead before continuing "If you really trust him, then trust that he''ll make the right decision. We''ll just support and protect him along the way." "*sigh* alright... raising a child is such a hassle." She giggles, "It''s just you that''s making it a hassle dear. Let''s just prepare for tomorrow. Trust him, okay?" I hope I''m not making a mistake here...This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. |POV Cas| [Present time] "Huh?" I opened my eyes and I see... myself? It''s me from before being reincarnated. But it''s also me now. It looks like someone superimposed both of them. I blinked and it blinked. I raised my hand and It also raised its hand. It''s a mirror, but weird. "Okay...?" I sit up and look around and there are mirrors everywhere. I can see every angle of me for the first time. My pale skin and my green eyesfrom my mother, and the rock plates and reddish-black hairfrom my father. I walk around and try to get my bearings "Where the h#ll am I? This looks like a house of mirr-" *bang* "F*$@ing mirror!" I slammed my face into a mirror and recoil in pain. It looks like it''s a maze, like a proper house of mirror type of maze. I keep navigating the maze with my hands in front of me, careful not to bump into a mirror again. As I turn the corner something changed. All my reflections are now wearing different clothes. I step towards the nearest mirror and inspected it closely. "It''s definitely me, but... something''s different. Not just the clothes... ah! My eyes! They''re purple?" I use my fingers to touch the mirror and.. warm?Why is this warm... WHAT THE HELL?! The reflection suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me in. I tripped into him and fell with him pinning me to the ground. I shoved him off me as hard as I could and he disappeared. Everything disappeared, except for one mirror. Surrounded by darkness I walk towards it and there''s a figure inside. It stood quietly there then the mirror shattered. "F@#k!" I recoiled in surprise and felt myself hitting something. I turned around and he''s there. It''s me, yet not me. Like there''s something else there. I back away but he rushes me and holds onto my head and brief flashes of memories flood my mind. Mostly about a battle, a battle with humanoid rocks and crystals shining brightly. It''s less of a battle, more of a trap it seemed. A group of godly beings surrounding me, hurling world-ending spells left and right, exhausting their powers just to kill me. "Your greed will be your undoing," I say.Wait... Did I say that? I can''t understand anything! What is this dream!?. "Our undoing is fated, inevitable, only by doing this can we change that." One of the glowing figures floating in the sky says. "Then you are dooming everyone else for this? All of your #@!$! and your $@!$?" "!$_)*!%$@! $@#!$! @$!@$ @! $#@!# $$#!$!#$ !#@$#" It all turned to garbled nonsense and I got taken out of the memory with a searing pain in my head. I back away as fast as I can, shouting "WHAT THE F!@$ WAS THAT? WHO THE F!@# ARE YOU?" A garbled voice speaks, gentle, soothing, and ethereal, but also sad, disappointed, and full of pity. "Not enough. Get stronger... find... me... speak... soon." He lunges towards me again, planning to tackle me I assume. I dodgeout of the way instinctively and it trips and faceplants on the ground. He gets up and we stare at each other awkwardly. "...don''t... dodge..." "How about f#ck you?" He does it again but this time he was too fast for me to dodge. I was expecting to get hit so I brace myself. I trip backwards and feel myself falling. "AH!" I exclaim while sitting up.My bed? I''m okay! That was just a dream, breathe Cas. Was it though? That felt so... real.I staysitting up for a while holding my head inside my hands. There''s so much I need to process right now and there are other stuff I need to do. Ughh I need to think about it at another time. I get my notebook from under my bed and note it down. Note to self, find out what mirror dream was. I wrote everything I can remember from the dream then moved on to the next thing.To do: Figure out what does, Research about the world, basic classes, skills and traits.I pause thinking about what other stuff I need to do. *knock knock click* "Morning Cas! Breakfast''s downstairs dear." Mom comes in my room and notices my clothing. "Oh! You didn''t even take off that hoodie eh? What about all the clothes mom bought you? You don''t want them anymore?" She pouts. I explain frantically "I was just too tired yesterday mom! Don''t be upset!" "I''m just teasing you dear" she giggles. "Come on downstairs we gotta eat. Dad bought your favourite stones yesterday!" She smiles and waves me over. "I wonder how you guys can taste something from those things. They just taste like dirt and iron to me." I get up and feel strangely more energized than before. I feel a bit stronger and there''s something in the air I can''t quite put my finger on. I shrug and head downstairs to eat breakfast with mom and dad. Dad''s there reading the news on the TV, drinking coffee sitting across mom. "Dad, how long does it take to get a class? I was thinking if I can get them fast then there''ll be no problem and I can just learn everything I want to learn." I ask dad while eating. He looks at me while contemplating how to answer, "Well it depends on a person''s talent and affinity towards the class son. For example, the D''varf are natural blacksmiths because of our affinity with metal and stone. This makes it relatively fast for us to learn the class, requiring at most a year for the slowest ones. Your mother has a higher magic stat than most and she''s a natural genius when it comes to magic so she got the class in half a year." I see mom puff up her chest proudlyin of the corner of my eye. "The isn''t it fine to just get a lot of classes dad?" "Sure you can get a lot of classes, but what about after that? You''ll be slower than other kids who focused on just one or two main classes. They''ll have ranked up their class. specialized, and maybe even combined them before you could even start learning how to rank up your own classes. And remember it''s best you do it before becoming 12-years-old, you''ll have no time apprenticing in the union." Mom pitches in, "Basically you can learn a lot of classes, but it''s best to focus on one or two once you''re in school." "Rank up? What''s that?" He raises his brow at me before answering, "When your class ranks up you can choose to specialize in one or two aspects in your class or mix an entirely different aspect in. For example, if you chose to be a warrior you can specialize in the sword, the spear, the hammer, any weapon you want. Or you could mix in an element and become an elemental warrior. There are thousands upon thousands of paths you can choose from but of course, they all have different requirements." "How do I get a class? The lady from the Obelysk only said that I can apprentice or I can learn on my own." He points to the food I forgot was in front of me. "Finish your food first and help your mom with the dishes, then maybe I''ll tell you." He then goes back to reading the news. "Ughh fine.." *nom nom* I finish eating and helping mom with the dishes before sitting in front of dad. "So?" "What? Ah yes, the class acquisition. It''s either you apprentice or you learn on your own." I glare at him and mom slaps the back of his head. "Explain it in detail Julius." "Alright. When you apprentice under someone through what''s called an apprenticeship oath, both of you get a quest. You''ll get a quest with detailing the tasks you need to accomplish, and when you finish these tasks the Obelysk will reward you with a class. Although remember that your master can hide these tasks from you. The master also gets a quest, and depending on the agreed terms they can receive a reward from it. Learning a class alone however is doing the sametasks without the quest, you can look up the requirements of course, but that would take longer because there''s no guarantee that you''ve done the tasks successfully.There''s also a chance that one can skip a basic class directly to learning a higher ranked class. There''s also an incredibly minute chance of creating a new basic class, but it''s been decades since the newest one appeared." "What are quests? And where does the Obelysk''s reward come from?" "Son you know you can find these out on the Web? We bought you a phone yesterday right?" He raises his eyebrow and smiles at me.He has got a point, it''s a good thing the internet exists here, but it''s mostly online forums and news websites right now. It''s good enough for me though. "One last thing dad, mom." I pause trying to think how to word my question. "Until.... until when can I decide? About my class choice?" Mom brushes my hair with her fingers "Take all the time you need Cas, we''ll support you whichever one you choose." *phew*I thought there was a deadline I might take my ti- "But do tell us by the end ofnext week, apprenticeship exams start then". Dad says and mom slaps him in the head again. Ah, fu- Chapter 7: New Paint Job Chapter 7:New Paint Job I think about what I have to do as I lounge around in the living room.Okay... so first thing on the list is to find out what my accelerate does. Status!
Name: Castiel Newton Race: D''varf / Efir¡¯esh Titles: None(Shown) Otherworlder Bearer of Blessings !@$##$! Eater Classes: None(Shown) Status: Healthy
Physical: 71F Endurance: 44F
Mind: 7E Magic:47F
Traits Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 21 [Material Transmutation] Aetherial Manipulation Lv 12 Sensory Enhancement(Ocular, Intuition) Lv 1 [Ocular - Status | Intuition - Magic]
Skills(Active) Accelerate Lv 3 Minor Telepathy Lv 7
Hmmm let''s see.. skill descri- wait... what the f$ck?I was about to call up the skill description window for but I noticed something new in my status screen. I have a new unreadable title, my stats have gone up massively, and my levelled up by a lot. What the... why is... huh?? Was it because of that mirror dude from my dream!? Breathe Cas... think. The title is called , did I eat something weird?? Hmmm... Pork rocks... potato rocks... AH! SAMMY''S GIFT! What the hell was that? Is that why I had that dream? I should''ve asked first ugh! I facepalm at my own carelessness towards food.There might be a poison rock out there, you don''t know Cas! *sigh* No use thinking about what it is I guess, let''s check what happened... skill description.
Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 21
Increases your durability. Armour plates are regenerated through consumption of material. Skill level increased through the consumption of material. [Material Transmutation] Change the material of your skin and plates into one of the materials ingested or absorbed. Energy spent per second is based on material quantity ingested and material rating.
Holy s@#t what the hell was that rock? sounds awesome! So how do I do this...I close my eyes and focus on my skin and my rocks, picturing them in my minds eye. It feels like... I have a limb I never knew was there. I control the ability to change my skin to iron. *crack crack crack* I hear the sound of stone cracking and I feel myself sink deeper in the sofa. I look at the rock plates on the back of my arm... they''re not stone anymore. They''re smooth and metallic, similar to armour that''s been shined and buffed. "Woah! I am Iron Man!"I scoffat my own joke before inspecting the changes closer. *clink* I tap my finger on my skin and it seems like it''s also changed into metal, not just my rock plates.I better show mom and dad, this might be something normal or something dangerous tho. I ran to the backyard where they were relaxing, my steps thudding like metal hitting stone, and shouted towards them, "Mom! Dad! Look!" "What is it, son?" Dad asks, before looking a bit anxious after seeing my new skin, "What happened to you? What''s that?". We walks closer to inspect them. "I turned them into metal!" He turns paler and suddenly shouts at me "Get inside!" I stiffen up, unsure of what to do. I look at mom and she looks worried as well. "NOW!" I turn and run inside, mom and dad trailing behind me. "What happened? Why is your skin like that? Answer NOW!" "I wa-" I try to answer but my knees wobble and I fall. I feel very faint and tired all of a sudden. As I succumb to unconsciousness I can hear them shouting my name.Why does this always happen to me? [POV Phenea] "CAS!" I run towards Cas and hold him in my arms. I can hear him unintelligibly murmuring something. "Cas! Are you okay?!" I try to ask him only to get no response. I look towards my husband who''s now checking his pulse. Suddenly we hear a cracking sound. *crack crack crack* His metallic skin is cracking and crawling. It looked like the metal was shrinking and retreating back under the stone pieces on his skin. I''ve never seen Julius do this, what is happening? "He''s just fainted dear don''t worry." "Don''t worry? YOU SCARED HIMTILLHE FAINTED! WHAT THE HELL JULIUS?" I shout at him. Even though I know why he was shouting, it''s still not fair to my Cas. I hug him tighter and carry him towards the living room. Placing him on the sofa and caressing his head I ask Julius, "Why was his skin like that? You can''t do that can you?" "...No, I can''t. You know our skin slowly gets denser and metallic as we age and get stronger, but it''s not like Cas''. No one I know can do anything like that, even after the rites." He pauses for a few seconds before continuing, "That''s very dangerous for him, he needs to get a class quickly." "We need to ask Robert for help. Go ge-" I was interrupted by a groaning sound from Cas. "Ughhh" "Cas! Are you okay?" [POV Cas] "Ughhhh"My head... what happened? "Cas! Are you okay?" I hear mom asking me with concern. I sit up and she hugs me, leaning my head on her bosom. "What happened?" I asked dad as I hugged mom back.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "You fell and fainted earlier. Then your skin and stones went back to being stone, it looked like you exhausted yourself with that skill." Dad answers, then he pauses seeming like he''s hesitating. "What... was that skill Cas?" "It was under . It''s called , it lets me change the material of my skin with something I''ve already eaten." I bring up the description window as I answered. "I tried it earlier and changed my skin to iron and it worked. But I guess I fainted because I used it for too long..." I feel a bit sorry for making them worry. "But that''s impossible..." He looks incredulously at me, then he sighs and leans his forehead against mine, "I''m sorry son, I didn''t mean to scare you I was just... scared. I guess you should know how dangerousthe world is for us D''varfs." He breathes deeply as if the next things he has to say are too hard to be said. "Honey..." Mom reaches out and holds his hand. She smiles at him lovingly, like she''s telling him it''s going to be okay. "Sonthe D''varfs have been hunted for centuries due to our unique skin. Some of the best weapons that existed back then are made from the skin of dead and hunted D''varfs. You see as we growstronger and older, our skin naturally turns to a harder and more resistant metal." He then removes his wristwatch. As he does so, his skin turns a shade blacker and shinier and his stone plates turn into a black platinum kind of metal. It looks like armour shards. That looks so cool. "Our skin is unique to each D''varf, it grows with you. D''varfs with a fire-based class and skills will develop a skin that will improve their affinity with the class. Those that use stealth will have their skin improve their camouflage abilities. There are other ways to ''evolve'' our skin." He looks up in melancholy as if remembering something from the past before continuing, "Even in death, our skin will retain its properties, and that''s why they hunted us down. They could make weapons that are unique and powerful, almost equal to some of the strongest enchanted weapons in our time." He breathes in deeply and looks back at me. I can feel his sadness, anger, disappointment, and a plethora of other emotions just by his actions. "Be thrifty with your trust son, people are darker and more evil than you can imagine." I can see mom tightening her grip on his hand, reminding him that she''s there. She brushes my hair and kisses me on the forehead. "Don''t worry Cas, we''ll protect you no matter what you don''t have to be afraid. We''ll ask your uncle Robert to make you a wristwatch, like your dad''s. He''s the one that made that you know." She pauses smiling assuredly, "We can trust them don''t worry, they''re good people." Phew... I was thinking about how to hide it... holy s#it, I never thought dad would have such a history. People are f#@ked up no matter what universe.Society looked so advanced I thought such barbarism would''ve been outlawed... "Isn''t anyone doing something about this?" "Of course the councils have banned such things, but weapons and armour made from D''varf skin still circulate in the black market. There are still bad people out there that are huntingus, so you have to be careful son." Councils? Well, that''s another one on the list I have to research." I will dad. So..."Should I ask? Now''s as good a time as any I guess. "Is my skin unique now? Or can all D''varf change their skin like mine?" "That''s what I''m thinking about too, son, you shouldn''t have developed enough yet to form a subskill. What happened?" "Well.. uh..." He looks at me with an eyebrow raised. "I kinda ate the rock Sammy gave to me yesterday when I woke up the skill levelled up to 21..." "Castiel!" Mom suddenly exclaimed. "Don''t just eat random stones! Did you at least wash it beforehand?Who knows where it''s been in!" Dad looked surprised before suddenly laughing.It''s... the first time I saw dad laugh this hard... that''s odd. "Hahahahahaaha! Don''t worry Phen, D''varf men hardly get sick eating stone or metal! Haha!" He laughs for a bit more and asks me, "What was that rock son?" "I don''t know... maybe I can ask Sammy? He told me he found it while we were playing." "Hmm, well rarely do we get bad effects from eating stones that taste good." He looks sternly at me. "Try not to use that skill until we get an illusion gadget to hide it okay? Also, don''t go out too much for now." I nod and he leans his forehead on mine again, it''s how he shows affection. He gets up and heads towards the door. "I''ll talk to Robert about it, and I''ll also have him ask his son about the rock." He leaves and mom and I go to the backyard again. She goes back to gardening and I postpone my endeavours to test out any of my skills without that illusion gadget dad had.I really don''t want to get kidnapped and skinned alive... I just lounge around, occasionally helping mom with the gardening and asking questions about stuff I wanted to know. "Mom, why''s our skill called ? Isn''t it just controlling and making things float?" I ask while planting a bunch of seeds she gave me. "It''s more than that silly, it''s not just about making things float. But it''s the easiest and most used technique in it." She goes on to teacher mode and I pay attention. "You see our race has a connection with the Aether dimension. No one knows why exactly, but the most common theory is that our ancient ancestors were denizens of that dimension and they could freely go to and fro that place. Anyway, the Aether dimension is like another page in the book of our world. Imagine the world you see, touch, hear, smell, and taste is the page we are in. The other page, the Aether, is a place filled with things and forces you can''t interact with normally. What our imprint does is that it allows us to sync up with that other page and have some of its contents bleed into our own page and obey our will." She pusher her imaginary glasses up, but her gloved hands are smothered with dirt so all she did was put a smudge of dirt between her eyes. " *ahem* What we do when we control stuff is borrow the forces from the Aether page. However our connection can do more than just that, given knowledge and time you''ll be able to do this." Closing her eyes, she mutters something under her breath and her invisible tattoos glow brighter. A sudden loud thud beside us startles me and I fall backwards. I look to where the sound came from and there''s nothing there. Looking at her with confusion I ask "What happened? What was that mom? I don''t see anything." "Silly, I told you we can''t see that page remember? But you have already awakened, use those skills to find what I did."Oh yeah... let''s see. Since I can''t see it, the ocular enhancement is of no help so I close my eyes hoping to get my intuition enhancement to sense it. And I did. I can feel a loss of magic on the spot where the loud thud came from. It''s like there''s an object that rejects the influence of magic. I focus more to see if I can sense what it is exactly, but I only just got the skill yesterday so it''s in vain. "I can sense there''s something there. Actually, what I can sense is the lack ofmagic in that spot there, it''s like they''re scared of coming close to that place. What is it, mom?" "Interesting." she looks at me happily. "That''s an aetherial summon Cas, we can request the help of creatures from that world for some time. And as you said, they''re magic resistant to an extent." She waves her hand and the blank space of magic is gone. "That''s just one of the things you can do with our skill Cas." "Cool!! When can I do that mom? And can you see it yourself?" "Practice using your skill Cas, you''ll get there eventually." She smiles then continues gardening.So it''s not as simple as I thought, the skill description isn''t too accurate then? skill description
Aetherial Manipulation Lv 12
[Force] Control aethereal forces to physically affect objects around you. Power and radius slightly increase as skill increases.
Force? Huh.. so I was using a subskill all this time? The status can be deceiving... There was nothing much to do so I just surfed the internet forums trying to find information about the skills and traits I have. I was too scared to find out and practice my becauseof what happened earlier. I have to be more careful. And like that, a week has passed since my awakening, the day of the decision draws nearer. Chapter 8: Accelerate Chapter 8: Accelerate "Here you go, kid!" Uncle Robert throws me a plain black wristband that¡¯s obviously much larger than my wrist. "Don''t lose it okay? I worked hard on that." He leans over to me whispering, "I put a lot of extra functions there, make sure to find them all okay?" He''s really fond of overdoing everything. Mom comes up to him and then hugs him, "Thanks for this Robert, hope we didn''t bother you too much." "Thanks, Uncle! It¡¯s a bit big though¡­¡± I say as I put my left hand through it. As it reaches my wrist, the band immediately glowed yellow before tightening slowly till it¡¯s almost skintight. ¡°Oh wow!¡± A hologram screen pops up on the band with the date, time, weather, and a bunch of random stuff. He grins at me, "I hope you''re not expecting a gift next year okay? You already banked two gifts!" He points at my wrist "Also, try tapping your phone there." I do as he says and touch my phone on the wrist part of the watch, which made it glow for a bit before dimming down again. "What did it do?" He grins and says nothing. Uncle Robert''s always been like this, even the simplest levitating building blocks he made for me when I was little had secrets in them, like making them change colours if I put them in a certain order. I pouted at him and asked him with exasperation, "Can you at least tell me how to do the illusion part?". He laughs and teaches me how to do it. There¡¯s a button that¡¯s secured with a password, which opens up a larger hologram window that looks like a character customization menu. It''s surprisingly user-friendly, having presets and all that. There are also multiple slots to save different disguises, and change them on the fly. Oh wow... I shouldn''t have expected any less¡­ how is this powered though? I saw that my current appearance was already saved in the first slot so activate it. I look at myself for a while, expecting some sort of glow or mist. But nothing comes so I just shrug and started the experiment. "I¡¯m going to test it out now!" I announced. Breathe Cas, you can do this... *crack crack* The cracking noises return and a faint feeling of fatigue and heaviness assaults me as I activate the skill changing them into bronze this time. I look at my hands and arms and they''re unchanged. Doubting whether the illusion was successful or my skill just didn¡¯t activate, I run my fingers on my arm and sure enough, the sound of metal scraping rings out. *clang clang* I clap my hands to tell them that the skill successfully activated. ¡°So, it worked, I guess?¡± Deactivating my skill, the drain in my stamina and energy went away as well as the feeling of heaviness that came with it. ¡°But it¡¯s still noticeable if I change into something metallic.¡± Uncle Robert comes up to me and grabs my wristband, ¡°You should really pay more attention, there¡¯re sound dampeners here and¡­¡± [an hour later] It took a while to perfectly calibrate my disguise so that it''s almost unnoticeable, and since it drains my magic whenever it activates I still have to be careful in using it. While it can get rid of sight and sound, touching it will still feel like metal. Also, people with the ability to see through illusions like this would be a problem. Well, I won''t use it too much anyway outside of practising alone and life-threatening scenarios. "Thanks again, Uncle Robert!" Apparently, I synced the watch to my phone when he told me to tap it there earlier. This makes it so I can access the wristband¡¯s functions on my phone, and my phone¡¯s functions through my wristband. It¡¯s an interesting function, and it makes the phone almost obsolete since I can just use the wristband. Wristband UI is too blue and holographic though, and also a bit harder to hide than the phone screen. ¡°Stay safe alright? Make sure to tell me or your parents if there¡¯s something wrong with it.¡± He ruffles my hair and apologizes, ¡°I¡¯m sorry about Sammy¡¯s gift okay? I already talked to him about it and he says he¡¯s sorry too.¡± Maybe he feels guilty about it... "Don''t worry about it uncle" I flex my non-existent biceps, "I got stronger because of it! And also I get a gift from you!¡± I grinned at him, ¡°Tell him I don''t blame him okay?" Sammy''s not come over for a week now, but he''s a child he might just be trying to find more of those black stones. And to be honest I kinda want more of the status boosts it gave. Also, I need to ask that mirror dude some questions... He laughs and waves before heading back home. Alright! I can practice my skills now! There wasn''t anything stopping me from practising my skills, only my caution from the previous events. Who knows what sort of effect has, it might even be worse than what happened before so we decided that I won''t use it before getting this. ¡°Mom! Dad! Can I test in our backyard?¡± ¡°Sure honey, we¡¯ll watch over and make sure it¡¯s safe. Is that okay?¡± Mom grabs dad and drags him with her. ¡°I suppose we don¡¯t want last time to happen again.¡± She¡¯s right¡­ well, an opinion from the strongest people I know should be helpful anyway. We head towards the backyard and mom puts her hand on the wall at the back of the house. The wall suddenly lights up and a faint dome of light expands to cover the house. She fiddles with the wall like she''s typing something on it and the sounds of engines and birds outside suddenly stop. "What''s this mom?" I ask, curiously looking at the dome. It looks like a mini version of the barrier surrounding the city. "It''s so no one can hear or see anything here from the outside Cas. We have to be careful after that stunt you pulled last week." Dad answers instead, smirking at me. I put my head down in embarrassment and he pats my back to reassure me. "It''s alright, son, just promise me to be careful with your actions from now on, okay?" I nod at him with determination and start trying my skill out. "I''m trying it out now!" wait... how do I even use it? Hmmm.. skill description!The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Accelerate Lv 3
Increase velocity in exchange of fuel.Reduction of fuel consumption as skill increases.
Increase velocity? I mean that¡¯s the simplest and most basic explanation, it doesn''t help much, does it? I close my eyes and picture myself accelerating. ¡°Ohhhh!¡± I feel a new sensation inside me like having another limb or muscle that wasn¡¯t there before. I try ¡®moving¡¯ the limb and a warmth spread throughout my body, making me feel energetic and giddy. Opening my eyes, I ran forward towards the wall at full speed. "OHHHH S@$T!" *BANG* "Cas!" "Son!" I hear cries of concern from my parents through the blurry world I put myself it. I hit the wall. I hit the wall HARD. Lying on the grass, I feel their hands on my head checking for damage. It hurts, but I feel more nauseous that pain. "I''m okay! I''m okay I just feel dizzy!" I brush their hands off and sit up. Taking a few minutes to gather my bearings, I asked them "What happened?" "You suddenly just ran straight towards the wall really fast," Mom says while checking again if I had injuries. My head feels like it hit a wall, which it did, but other than that numb pain I feel fine. Good thing I have semi-stone skin, and innards too, maybe? "I guess it''s just what it says on the skill name, that''s good," Dad says and then looks at the wall. "You did damage to the wall though, a lot more than I expected. Good thing you ate that black stone last week, else you¡¯d be more injured now." Mom was thinking for a while before speaking up, "Was that the fastest you can go Cas?" "I don''t think so?" Thinking for a bit I tried to recall what happened. "I could still go faster, but I feel like I¡¯ll break something if I did. I just ran as fast as possible without straining myself." I stand up, feeling exhausted. "I feel like I ran more than a few minutes though." "Hmmm... I think there''s more to your skill Cas, what does the description say again?" I tell her the description and she starts thinking a bit. I stand up and start shaking dirt off of me in the meantime. I look at the wall and dad was right, I did quite a bit of damage on the wall. Like a sledge hit it repeatedly, it has stone pieces scattered about and a dent the size of my forehead. I probably could have killed someone on the previous earth. My stomach grumbles from hunger even though we just finished eating breakfast earlier. Fuel... huh I guess that could be the fuel part? ¡°I¡¯m not in trouble for this, am I?¡± I ask dad and he shakes his head, making me breathe a sigh of relief. "," Mom says and a stone wall rises from the ground. She then turns to me and says "Cas, try punching that wall but use your . Punch it with your hand okay, not your head." She giggles at her own teasing and I roll my eyes. I stand a bit away and used while running straight towards the wall, slower this time so that I can stop. It should still pack a punch, but I''m more worried about my fist more than anything, I guess it''s also time to test my stone. I run towards the wall, barely stopping before punching it. *BANG* there was less damage on it than the earlier wall but I still made an impact on it. My hand hurt but it doesn''t hurt like I punched a wall, it hurt like I punched something softer. I look at my knuckles and they weren''t even red from the impact. Suddenly mom says "Try punching it from that distance." "What are you looking for honey?" "Just wait I''m experimenting." She says while looking at me with a sparkle in her eyes. She was a professor and researcher before I was born, researching skills and magic. So I guess this is really interesting for her. She quit for reasons she doesn''t ever tell me but I can see how she''s really into finding out about my skills. I punch the wall at close quarters and it shook a bit, making smaller and fewer cracks compared to the one I made earlier. I''m this strong and they could still instantly kill me? How monstrous are the people here? "I meant to punch it while speeding up your punch!" I tilt my head at her from my confusion. "Don''t speed up your whole body, just speed up your punch." I didn''t think of that! The description never said I can only make myself run faster. I do as she says and try to control the skill to affect only my right arm. It took a bit of time before I got the warm feeling to only cover my arm, but eventually, I did it and punched it straight towards the wall. *BANG* My fist punches through the wall, with enough momentum carrying me through it too. "Agh!" My whole arm is now on the other side of the wall. I wiggle and pull it back out, wincing at the pain. Now that felt like I really punch a wall. Mom''s grinning like a child, proud that she''s right about her assumptions I guess. Dad looks surprised but then warmly looks at me with a smile. "Yes!!! Your ability is amazing Cas! Huhuhuhu my baby boy is a gifted genius!" She runs and hugs me. "Be careful with using it son, losing control leads to accidents. Like what you did earlier with our fence wall." ¡°Yes, dad. Using it like that hurts though!¡± I nod and think more about what uses the skill has. Maybe I can combine it with my . An iron body ramming something at around the speed of a truck should do some damage, even to the monstrous people of this world right? "I have to go to work honey, make sure to do things in moderation, okay? Try not to overwork our son." Dad says ominous words to my mom before taking his leave. Mom then looks at me like a tiger looking at prey. "Well then, on to the next experiment Cas". She smiles sweetly at me but it looks more like a hunters smile to me. I have a bad feeling about this... [Lunchtime] "I''m so tired... ughhhh..." I plop down on the table while weakly munching on some fruits. Rocks are good, but a balanced diet is a must to stay healthy! Anyway, mom made me do simple things like punch or kick or walk or even just blinking. But she made me do it hundreds of times, repeatedly... "Oh don''t be such a silly, you''re young! You should have more energy than this!" She pinches my cheek before continuing to peruse her notes on my skill. skill description
Accelerate Lv 4
Increase velocity in exchange of fuel.Reduction of fuel consumption as skill increases. [Body Acceleration] Isolate the effects on a part of your body. Fuel consumption is based on mass and speed. [Mind Acceleration] Increase the mind''s processing speed. Slows the world around byspeedingyour perception of time. Can be used concurrently with [Body Acceleration].
Due to the extremeworkout she had me do, it''s skill level increased by one, and unique skills are known to level slowly. However, welearned that I can speed up my thought process. I used it while running faster so that I don''t run into anything. It''s great but it''s as tiring as using [Body Acceleration] so it''s like having double the energy cost. I haven''t tested the limits yet because I have to take a break now and then to rest and she was sensible enough to not let me try my limits for now. What did you do to my cute and caring mother! Bring her back to me!! I say while glaring at her. I continue nomming my food before trying to run back to my room, in fear of more experiments. "Cas!" She calls out to me and I freeze. I turn around trying to smile. "Yes, mom?" "I''ll be in the basement for a while okay? Call me back when dad comes." She then walks towards a cabinet under the stairs and enters it.We have a basement? They never went there for the whole time I''ve been here! Well, at least I''ve never seen them come there.I shake off my curiosity in fear of the famous saying and went to lie on the sofa to rest. My eyes grow heavier and I slowly entered sleep''s embrace. Chapter 9: Gear Chapter 9: Gear "Warrior!" I answer my anxious-looking parents. "I want to learn the Warrior class!" I say with determination. They''re quite concerned with the first class I take because any other subsequent class will be influenced by the first class I learn. For example, if I learned the smith class first before learning the warrior class,there''s a chance that the future advancements of the warrior class will be limited to how I specialize the smith class. Of course, like everything else in life, there are exceptions. I''ve thought about what class I wanted to take in the past few days. Information online about classes and their requirements are incredulously scarcer than I expected. However, I did manage to gather a bit of information from it. To get a class, one must complete a set of tasks that are related to that class and its purpose. Warriors need to learn how to survive and fight. Mages learn about magic and all things associated. Archers are all about hunting and supporting. Craftsmen are naturally required to make stuff. I''ve also read about there being a Mentalist class too and they practice psionic stuff like mind reading and whatnot. The tasks are dependent on the individual, meaning my tasks are not necessarily the same as another¡¯s. They can be similar though.Almost all classes are a stemmed from these basic classes, apart from those born from unique classes which is an entirely different tree. The world has a mentality about affinities, so information about classes isn¡¯t really scientific. I picked warrior because of my skill, but to be honest it can be used with any of the classes. But I also have my that would make it less scary to be in close range. I¡¯ll be getting more than one class anyway, I have six years to waste before school so getting another class or two should be fine. Dad sighs in relief and mom smiles at me before caressing my cheek, "Then we''ll do all we can to help you become the best warrior in the city." Huh, I kinda expected them to be concerned or nervous since it''s kind of a dangerous profession? I guess I''m still not used to the common sense of this world. "So then, do you want to learn under me? Or do you want to take an apprenticeship somewhere? We can look for one we can trust, son." He looks calm but I can see his feet tapping from anxiousness. "I want to learn from you, dad." I''ve thought about this one too, it''s honestly easier to just learn from him. "Dad already knows my skills, plus learning from him would be less risky for my skill." He sighed and looked relieved before freezing after hearing mom''s giggle and smirk. "*cough* Then we''ll perform the oath of apprenticeship." The oath of apprenticeship is not some fancy thing like a ritual or ceremony with sacrifices and whatnot, it''s really simple. He takes out his plate, like the one I got from my awakening. It looks quite a lot different though, seemingly made out of glass with a black tint. It''s the first time I''ve seen it. Mom notices and answers my curiosity. "Your plate will be changed to a different material when you rank up, Cas, that''s why dad has a crystal card and you still have the lowest one which is wood. It goes wood, then stone, then metal, then crystal." She explains and then shows me her card as well, which has the same features. "Mine is crystal too Cas" She smiles proudly pushing her chest up with pride. So they''re like the topmost rank I guess? Maybe that¡¯s why they can still kill me instantly even after getting an upgrade on my skin. "The colour also represents your strongest class, whether it''s as a combatant or not. It''s coloured black if you''re combatant, and white if you''re a non-combatant. There''s also grey if it can''t be classified as either of those." I nod in understanding and take out my boring wooden plate. I glance at it in disappointment. I''ll get one of those fancy crystal plates someday... The oath is basically making your plates touch before thinking about the terms of your agreement. Apprenticeship is a special kind of quest, one where the Obelysk, or whatever generates the windows, helps with determining the tasks for the quest. Normal quests are also like that, but the rewards, punishments, and tasks are determined by both sides.
Reward(s): Warrior Class Apprenticeship You have taken apprenticeship under Julius Newton, born of the D''varf race, whowill guide you with the necessary steps to obtain the Warrior class. Punishment(s): None
Task(s): Hidden
Progress: None
Huh, so that''s how it looks like. It''s the first time I''ve seen a quest window, but I know they exist. I''ve asked my parents about what the windows are and who makes them, but no one really knows. The main theory is that it comes from the celestial stones like the Obelysk. At the end of the day, they said it''s just an auxiliary tool for us to survive better but we should not make it a necessity. It''s really useful though. I can''t imagine how easier life would''ve been in the previous world if I had this. "We start tomorrow, I''ll have to get the stuff we need for your training. We''ll have to first find out what kind of warrior you will have the most affinity with. Get a good rest for today''s son." I nod and for the rest of the day, I did nothing but laze around and playing with my skills. The and is amazingly powerful, but I get tired after 10 minutes of using it. [A week later] "*pant pant* Can *pant* Can we rest for a bit? *pant*" "We''ll stop here today. Let''s wait for mom to bring us lunch here." I don''t bother to reply and just hobbled over to the side where a jug of water and some towels are prepared. He''s been training me for a week now. Well, I say ''training'' loosely, all I''ve learned essentially is how to get beat up. It¡¯s just my annoyance talking though, actually, I¡¯ve learned a lot of stuff so far. And it¡¯s only been a week. Since the first day about a week ago he wakes me up at around sunrise and feeds me this hard bar of different types of rocks smashed together, kinda like a breakfast bar. And when I say hard, it''s HARD. That''s coming from me who literally eats rocks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Anyway, after that, we run for an hour or so around different parts of the city, introducing me to different places and landmarks which will be quite useful. Hospitals, clinics, malls, markets, guardian stations, and a few more. I don¡¯t know why they have this much though, the tower¡¯s pretty packed with the same services. Then we go towards this warehouse-like building that''s around the size of 3 basketball courts. Inside is just a grey room, with pillars supporting the ceiling and a circular arena in the middle of it and various facilities on the sides. There''s equipment scattered all around the arena, different kinds of wooden weapons here and there. He gives me a new weapon every other day. Like on the first day he gave me a sword then showed me all the basic slashes and stabs and blocks which I then mirrored the best I can. He also shows me footwork and stances and all that combat stuff. I learned a bit from self-defence class back on earth, but that feels like a lifetime ago. The next day we move onto sparring lessons, mom stands on the side to cheer me on and also for emergencies. At first, I was afraid of hitting him and pulled back my slashes and stabs, but then he noticed it and told me to attack his arm full force. He said we won¡¯t continue until I do as he said, so I slashed downwards as hard as I can. The wooden sword broke in two without him flinching. My hand hurts though, but from then on I never pulled back my attacks.Stolen story; please report. The day after sparring he gives me a new weapon, and we do the cycle all over again. I''ve already asked him why we''re doing this and he told me, "We need to know what type of warrior you''re a natural at.". As I said before, this world has a mentality of affinities. Today was the training day for a Scimitar, we''ve been going through one-handed blades since last week. If we have to go through all the types of weapons available then we''ll be doing this for months. Ughhhhhh I thought this would be more exciting. [POV Julius] My son is a genius. Basic classes take a long time to learn because of tasks like this. Tasks like surviving in a specific environment for a set amount of time, or creating an unbelievable amount of ingots, or even just eight-hour meditation sessions every day for half a year. Currently, his task is to try out every weapon we can until we find his ¡®weapon¡¯. This is quite a common task for warriors because almost every warrior has a weapon most compatible with them. There are cases where a warrior has more than one weapon. This would be taken into account though, as the task will not be completed before discovering all of them. My son, however, is breezing through weapons like the wind. What would normally take a kid more than half a week to learn, he takes a day. Enough to be able to spar only using the basics. However, it feels¡­ off. He does everything perfectly like how I showed him, and his instincts are not bad. Maybe it¡¯s inexperience? I guess no matter how much of a genius a person is, they¡¯ll still be nothing without it. He needs to be stronger, the incident with the mysterious stone and his skill are both amazing. This doesn¡¯t bode well for the future, his destiny would contain an unbelievable burden if fate decided that he obtain these skills this early. This world strives for eventual balance, fortune and tragedy go hand in hand. Plunged in darkness, it spawned the different deific stones that grant us access to the Status Screen. This gave us an edge, and quite a powerful one at that which eventually led us to turn the tides. However, at the cusp of victory, dungeons popped up and more powerful monsters appeared to balance the scale once again. Like this, his fortune will possibly end up turning in the future. I will make him stronger. I will protect him until he gains the strength to do so himself! I lower my stance and put the spear in my hand in front of me, unyielding to whatever obstacles the future will throw towards us. "Five minutes are up son, ready yourself." [3 months later] "Haahh... that''s the last one right?" Cas looks at me while sitting on the ground. We''ve gone through all of the general types of weapons: one-handed, two-handed, dual-wielded, polearms, gauntlets, and even chain weapons. There are also times we finish testing a weapon in a day due to it being similar to a weapon we¡¯ve covered before. "Yes, but we st-" He suddenly lays down flat on the ground, thrusts his fists up in the air, and shouts "FINALLY!!!!!!". I might have overworked him a bit due to my eagerness... but he did finish the first part in less than half the time it took me. But... there''s a problem. *ahem* I cough to grab his attention. He turns towards me with a questioning gaze and I look towards him, troubled to tell him the truth. "As I was saying, you will have a week''s long rest after this. Resting well is also an important skill for warriors. I have no tasks for you until next week so make sure to enjoy this free time." [POV Cas] "I''m so boooreeddd!!!" I miss my truck... maybe I could get a mechanic class or something and I could design trucks? Carriages are getting sleeker and sleeker but at the end of the day, they''re still carriages, just more aerodynamic. Maybe I could revolutionize the automobile industry someday¡­. I let my thoughts wander due to my boredom. I can''t believe I actually miss getting beat up every day.I guess getting beat up does sound better thanhaving nothing to do for days. I can''t even practice skills since Dad says ''Rest'' all the time. But I do sneak some since doing chores slowly sucks. Mom sits on the couch I''m laying on and caresses my cheek. "Awww if you''re so bored why don''t you help me with the shopping?" I sit up and ran upstairs to grab my hoodie. I still can''t do that thing Mom does, where she can telekinetically grab something out of a different room. She says I¡¯ll eventually learn it for sure because we have the same intuition enhancement and that''s apparently important for that technique. We walk for half an hour towards a town marketplace. It¡¯s like this open market that has a lot of different stalls selling different stuff. There¡¯s a plethora of different stuff here, mostly food and necessities. And at last, I finally saw where mom and dad buys the rocks I munch on every day. It¡¯s like this emporium of rocks, each shelf populated with various types of boulders and pebbles labelled with the names, nutrients, origin, and the price. I don¡¯t bother learning the names as they¡¯re too long-winded. I just name them in my mind depending on their taste. So I bought a lot of bacon and pancake rocks. Well, Mom bought them, but still. We also went to a gadget place, where she showed me different kinds of interesting technologies. There''s the phone one we have, the anti-spying tech, a floating board to carry stuff with like luggage or materials, and a lot more. And apparently, mom bought me here to buy headphones, which was getting popular recently. The headphones are awesome and they go well with my hoodie. Mom¡¯s are smooth, sleek and bright yellow, and mine look rocky and crystalline and are coloured matte grey. While it can play music like a normal pair of headphones, it¡¯s amazing feature is that it has . By emitting a low and almost imperceptible hum, the telepathic wave of music or audio can piggyback on it to produce music directly in the mind¡¯s ear. It¡¯s also wireless and rechargeable through the plate or charging boards. Man, this thing really is a universal battery, no wonder they didn''t buy me any gadgets before turning six. Although, I suppose no good parent would do that anyway. Actually shouldn''t it be a bit too early for six-year-olds to get a phone? We head home and take care of the groceries before dad comes back. We have dinner and I go to bed shortly after. Before falling asleep, I check my status screen. Status!
Name: Castiel Newton Race: D''varf / Efir¡¯esh Titles:Julius'' Apprentice Otherworlder Bearer of Blessings !@$##$! Eater Classes: None(Shown) Status: Healthy
Physical: 79F Endurance: 62F
Mind: 7E Magic:47F
Traits Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 21 [Material Transmutation] Aetherial Manipulation Lv 13 [Force] Sensory Enhancement(Ocular, Intuition) Lv 4 [Ocular - Status | Intuition - Magic]
Skills(Active) Accelerate Lv 5 [Body Acceleration | Mind Acceleration] Minor Telepathy Lv 9
Getting beat up is a good way to train your endurance, not a pleasant way though. I kinda neglected my skills, it wasn¡¯t allowed during sparring. I did use whenever dad told me to practice alone... no one was watching anyway. I continue my reverie while listening to some music before getting called downstairs for dinner. The training break ends tomorrow! I wonder what the next task is? I put on my headphones and listen to some music before falling asleep. [POV Julius] "I didn''t anticipate that this would be a problem." I hold my head in my hands as I explain to my wife. "We can''t find his affinity, it''s like he doesn''t have one!." "What do you mean? I''ve watched your spars, he''s learned the basics quickly and perfectly, right? You even said he''s an unprecedented genius because he learns the basics within the span of a day, enough to be able to put up a fight with someone his level. How can he have no affinity?" "That''s the problem! His affinity with every weapon we''ve done was far too consistent, it was practically the same with every single one. I noticed it before but I thought it was because he was just a genius, but every single one of the moves is mechanical. Like a machine was doing them instead." I put my head between my hands in frustration. I feel her hugging me and caressing my back. "Hmmm¡­ maybe don¡¯t teach him the basics and instead go ahead to sparring?." ¡°We¡¯re out of weapons to test! I¡¯ve made him test every melee weapon I know, the damn task is still not done!¡± ¡°Then it might be a weapon you don¡¯t know. He¡¯s fast, Julius. Trust him to find what he needs.¡± "But how''s he going to get through the trial like that? What if he chooses the wrong weapon?" "I just told you, you have to trust him." "*sigh* I just want what''s best for him you know..." "I know, I want the same too, Julius. But when you went through your trial, didn''t you also know what''s best for you? Trust him to know when the time comes too." "...you''re right Phen." I kiss her forehead. "Thank you." "Anytime, you fragile pebble." She giggles and we go to sleep in each other''s arms. I will make him stronger. Chapter 10: Rite Chapter 10: Rite "So... do I eat it?" I stare at the guitar pick shaped rock on my hand. Actually, it might be more of a reptilian looking scale. This was the necklace dad gave me when I just turned 1 year old. I¡¯ve always worn it since it kinda felt weird if I didn¡¯t have it on my neck so I just left it there all the time. Turns out it was more than just an heirloom. I was wondering what this is... "No, assimilate it on your heart plate." He points at my chest. The heart plate is the piece of rock armour that sits just above our hearts. It¡¯s the hardest and densest plate D¡¯varfs have on their body. "Assimilate?" "You put it above the plate and think about absorbing it." I stare at it for a bit before quickly trying it out, but he grabs my hand before I can do so. Dad seems to be hesitating about something, but it seemed like he resolved his mind and so he released his grip "...just be careful son." "Be careful of what?" I know look at the scale-slash-rock in suspicion. "Just¡­ be careful and trust your gut.¡± I look warily at his warning, but I know they won¡¯t do anything to harm me intentionally. They haven¡¯t so far, why would they start now? I nod towards him and mom before pressing the piece of rock onto my heart plate. I close my eyes trying to think about the piece of rock merging with the plate. I felt the coldness of the necklace on my heart plate. Wait¡­ I can feel it? I look down at my chest and... it¡¯s gone. Confused, I look towards my parents only to see utter darkness. There¡¯s nothing in front, above, below, nor behind me. It¡¯s making me a bit nauseous, there¡¯s nothing I can anchor my eyes onto making me feel like I¡¯m falling endlessly. Hmmm, what the h@ll is it this time? Thinking about it, isn¡¯t it kinda bad that I¡¯ve gotten used to getting weird experiences like these without really questioning it? Might be the common sense of the other world finally settling in¡­ or might be a defence mechanism Despite being unusually calm about the situation, I still feel wary about my surroundings. This place of nothingness is eating into my sanity bit by bit, I don¡¯t even know how long I¡¯ve been here now. So I call out to the nothingness, ¡°Hello? Is anyone there? Mirror bro?¡±. Suddenly, a bunch of small balls of light appeared from above like fireflies in the night. Sparks, embers, snow, sand, and all other kinds of particles appeared as well. The wind picked up and pressure built up. Everything went haywire, moving in a chaotic but controlled pattern, building towards a crescendo as each group of particles bunched up together before suddenly stopping and outlining silhouettes of different kinds of creatures. I stare astounded at the light show that happened around me, getting snapped out of my awe by an ancient-sounding voice. ¡°Why are you here, puppet?¡± The air got heavier, my chest tightened up, and breathing became near impossible. I go down on my knees due to the pressure and the lack of oxygen. Oxygen? Wait I¡¯m in a dream why would I need to breathe? I imagine getting a breath of air and hoping that it¡¯s how the dream works. But¡­ nothing happened and I just lay flat on the ground with my vision beginning to turn black while unconsciousness starts creeping into me. ¡°Wait, brother.¡± The pressure stops instantly and I can finally breathe again, but I stay panting on the ground in fear of what the beings want with me. Is this why dad told me to be careful? What the f@ck dad!? I need to get out of here! Sounding like the hissing of wind and rain on a stormy night, the other voice continued to speak. ¡°Look deeper, brother. It has been marked by ¡®his¡¯ friend and it appears to have inherited a piece of him too. Remember our debt to them.¡± The sound of roaring thunder nearly deafened me as the next voice came into the conversation. ¡°It is so brother, not only is that creature carrying his will, but he also hails from our friends of metal and stone.¡± I stay quiet as I listen in the conversation. I have no idea what¡¯s going on, I need to make a note of this later. ¡°Very well.¡± The figures materialized into different creatures coated by scales of different colours and materials, some look crystalline, some wooden, and some metallic. They look mesmerizing and hypnotic, to the point where I was stuck in a trance without realizing it. Shaking my head to break out of it, I look towards the pangolin-like creature as it called out to me. ¡°I apologize for thoughtlessly assuming your intentions. Friend, who is of the stone, why have you come?¡± I freeze at their question, unsure of how to answer it. ¡°Uhhh¡­ I don¡¯t know? My dad gave me a scale and told me to absorb it here.¡± I point at my heart scale. ¡°Brother, our gift to the people of the stone.¡± A cold voice speaks out, originating from the blue salamander shaped creature. ¡°We gave them our blessing.¡± A blazing hot breeze of air and a smell of smoke appears as another of these creatures speak out. ¡°Indeed, it has been centuries since one of them was worthy to be tested by us! Our lower kin is often the ones responsible for this task.¡± ¡°Ah, well then, congratulations.¡± A shimmering bird chirp in, almost blinding me with its bright white feathers. ¡°Prepare yourself, little friend.¡± ¡°Prepare for what? What¡¯s the test?¡± I ask nervously. Pain really isn¡¯t my thing, not that I can¡¯t tolerate it when necessary but I would rather not if I can. I¡¯m afraid this test of theirs would be something like getting submerged into a pool of lava or something of that level. That wouldn¡¯t be fun at all... Silence ensues before a blinding white light and a deafening high-pitched sound hits me. I closed my eyes and forced my ears shut instinctively, but the sound and the light penetrate through with relative ease. ¡°Agh F@CK!¡± *thud thud thud* Several heavy objects hit the ground around me in a rhythmic manner. Eyes still trying to adjust from the abrupt change in brightness, I open them to see hundreds of pedestals with different objects floating on top of them. Gold, weapons, jewellery, technology, books, a plethora of random items as far as the eye can see, each one seemingly more precious and powerful than the last. A new voice, one I haven¡¯t heard of voiced itself with an authoritative presence. It is as if the world is made of clay and its words are the mould that shapes it. ¡°Choose.¡± [POV Phenea] My little Cas is now going through the D¡¯varf ancient rites. According to Julius, this is normally only done after getting their first class. And even then they have to wait at least three years for the scale to attune itself, else it won¡¯t work. I pestered him about using it as a research subject before, but he always was against it.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Are you sure he¡¯s alright dear?¡± Cas is currently lying on the ground in our backyard, Julius insists that it was to help him draw strength from the ground. I don¡¯t buy it one bit, but on the off chance that he¡¯s telling the truth, I just believed him for now. ¡°Yes honey, don¡¯t worry and just prepare in case it becomes explosive.¡± I nod and stare intently at Cas, looking at any slight change around him. Julius did say his trial was just to take a leap of faith and bravely walk through a path of fire and coal for a few hours. Considering he¡¯s basically half rock that would¡¯ve been easy for him, I would say. I think about Julius¡¯ stories about the rites. As far as I can tell it¡¯s completely random, and how much they endure is indicative of what they get from the rites. Suddenly we felt something heavy in the air. ¡°Julius¡­¡± I call out to him. ¡°I think he¡¯s about finished his trial.¡± The air felt heavier and heavier, a pressure like nothing we¡¯ve ever felt from our years of adventuring. The surrounding light becomes dimmer and dimmer as Cas¡¯ body glows brighter and brighter. ¡°JULIUS?!¡± ¡°Ready a barrier! I think this is it!¡± ¡°!¡± I roused my magic and cast my strongest shield spell around us. I focus my eyes as the light seemingly reaches its climax. *shatter* With the sound of glass shattering, everything stops and goes back to normal. It was like everything that happened before was a lie, nary a blade of grass was disturbed, nor a breeze travelled through. We look at each other for a moment, unsure of what to think about what just happened. [POV #!!@#@] ¡°So, that was¡­ interesting.¡± I look towards my kin still shocked at the result of the trial. Even the most stoic of us stared in awe at what our friend of the stone did. ¡°Indeed it was,¡± Ember said, surprisingly not shouting as she always does. ¡°Never has anyone failed as fast as it did.¡± ¡°Never has anyone failed in our trial you know, it¡¯s just a formality as the real trial was to be able to come here.¡± ¡°Was what it did surely a failure? Or was it the inadequacy of our test?¡± I asked in defence of our friend, ¡°Is it not enviable that it knows where it¡¯s desire lies and act on it without hesitation?¡± ¡°But are we not judging whether it is worthy and responsible enough to wield our gift? What sins might be born by giving power to one who easily succumbs to temptation?¡± Quake retorts and stomps in annoyance. Ray replied calmly, ¡°But who are we to judge that this temptation is one that has negative consequences? It didn¡¯t lust for power, nor money, nor fame, nor any other artefact among the choices. It went immediately for the one which showed its true nature.¡± We, such ancient beings of revered judgement, argued for a long time about whether or not our test was wrong or our friend was wrong. I sigh in the realization of the cause of this quandary, ¡°My kin, I believe we¡¯ve all been sedentary for too long. Our fear of death isolated us from what it means to be alive. We have not but ourselves to judge this pitiful friend.¡± A moment of silence and pondering ensues before it is broken, ¡°I concur, I believe we need to interact once again with society. Too long have our judgements been rot by dormancy.¡± Pitch points towards our friend who¡¯s currently hugging the object it has picked. ¡°I believe we have our friend here to thank for this realization. I vote to grant it a blessing regardless of whether or not our judgement is distorted¡± ¡°I believe it already received one,¡± Ember replied with a hint of sarcasm. I shoot a bolt of lighting at her direction making her flinch. She sighs in concession, ¡°Fine, I suppose it deserves our gift for this.¡± Chill added, ¡°And as it is not its fault whether or not the test was a failure, we should consider it a success.¡± ¡°Shall we go to its previous world? I am interested in its culture and history, and from what I¡¯ve seen from its memories it should be relatively safe. The grasp of otherworlders is not strong enough to affect us.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°Indeed¡± ¡°Yes¡± We all voice our agreement and went back to the matter at hand. ¡°I suppose we need to call it back here now and grant its reward.¡± Breeze murmured, ¡°I¡¯m quite interested in this ¡®truck¡¯ it so loves¡­¡± [POV Cas] *yawn* What a nice dream, I had my truck and all was good! I rolled to my side thinking about lazing around in bed all morning but something felt wrong. I sit up and I¡¯m in the middle of our backyard, with mom and dad on either side of me in a battle pose. I look up and there¡¯s a barrier of wind surrounding the whole backyard inside that other illusion barrier we had. ¡°Uhhhh¡­ what happened?¡± ¡°The rites son. You just went through it remember?¡± Oh yeah! Did I already do it? Owww my head... I try to remember what happened but I only get vague images and fractured memories of my ¡®dream¡¯. Though I remember the conclusion quite clearly¡­ ¡°I passed! Woooo!¡± Raising my hands in the air in celebration from my achievement, I scream in elation. I stand up, dusting my clothes and stretching my limbs. I must¡¯ve been laying down for quite some time. I feel like I slept for ages! ¡°Congrats, Cas!¡± ¡°Congratulation son!¡± Mom immediately hugged me and dad ruffles my hair smiling proudly. ¡°What was your trial, son?¡±, dad asks after a bit. ¡°I... don¡¯t really remember much for some reason, I just remember having to choose something from a lot of choices and then being rewarded with these.¡± I close my eyes calling out towards my rewards. I learned later that the rewards given are something personal and unique to the person, usually a weapon or a skill that¡¯s appropriate for them and will grow and evolve with them. Stein! Kern! Fels! Three different rocks form and float out from the surface of my heart plate as if they''re emerging from water. All three are circular floating stones that¡¯s sort of orbited by a tiny other stones. The only way to tell them apart is the ¡®eye¡¯ part of them which is a circular indent the moves around their body and it glows in different colours. Stein¡¯s scarlet, Kern¡¯s amber, and Fels¡¯ viridescent. ¡°What are those?! They¡¯re so cute!¡± Mom immediately gathers them up and hugs them. The scene reminds me of a child getting new toys for their birthday. Dad also inspects them, but he looks concerned about something, which he voices out. ¡°You didn¡¯t get a weapon?¡± I shake my head. ¡°Should... should I have gotten one?¡± I asked inquisitively. He never said anything about getting a weapon anyway, also I kinda didn¡¯t have a choice. He shakes his head and looks towards my summons. ¡°I don¡¯t know. What can they do?¡± ¡°Actually¡­ I have no idea? Apart from one thing.¡± I ¡®will¡¯ Stein and Kern telepathically to come to me and demonstrate their ability. They escape mom¡¯s grasp, apart from Fels who seems to have taken a liking to her. They quickly floated towards me and I ready my left arm for their transformation. Kern latches onto my arm and morphs into a bracer of some sort with a shield connected to it and Stein connects and reinforces the medium-sized shield to form a tower shield almost as big as I am. Of course, it¡¯s still made of the same rock as my plates are because essentially they¡¯re a part of my heart plate, but it very looks imposing. It¡¯s rough and jagged looking surface combined with the scarlet and amber linings that are slightly glowing adds to that effect. ¡°It¡¯s a shield?¡± Dad looks surprised at the giant shield on my arm It¡¯s really heavy so I don¡¯t put it up for too long, Stein and Kern quickly re-morphed to their previous form and floated beside me. ¡°Yeah, they can morph shields. They can¡¯t float in that form though, so I have to carry them on me if they turn to a shield. And it¡¯s really heavy!¡± Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have gone for a double shield immediately, Kern was light enough I guess. I get Kern to transform back to the medium-sized shield on my left arm. It¡¯s lighter and more manageable but it¡¯s still like carrying weights strapped on your arm. Mom and dad comes closer to observe it. ¡°Hold it up, son.¡± Suddenly says, grabbing a wooden mallet that¡¯s conveniently leaning on the house wall. ¡°Uhhhh¡­ please don¡¯t¡¯¡± ¡°We have to check if they¡¯re effective.¡± Dad says and Mom suddenly exclaims, ¡°Ah! Don¡¯t destroy them! What if they¡¯re damaged forever?!¡± ¡°I think they regenerate mom, even if they are destroyed, as long as my heart plate isn¡¯t then they¡¯ll be alright!¡± That was actually a dumb thing to say right now... ¡°Well then, prepare yourself.¡± Chapter 11: Class Chapter 11: Class Dad suddenly rushed me, his wooden sledge trailing behind held by his left arm prepared to smash at me in full force. I widen my stance and lower my centre of gravity, preparing to dodge his swing. As he closed in I dodged to the side, away from his downward swing and back off to create distance between us. *BANG* ¡°Use your shield and block! Don¡¯t dodge!¡± He shouts while running towards me again. I look at the small crater he made with the hammer and thought to myself, F#ck that. And backed off again from his swing. ¡°BLOCK!¡± This time he instantly appeared in front of me, but his swing was slow enough for me to get my shield in the way. And I did so. The pressure from Dad¡¯s impending hammer coming straight towards me from the left made my knees weaken a bit, but I braced myself from the impact. Instinctively, I angled the shield just enough to deflect the blow upwards and lessen the impact towards me. *clang!* After deflecting I stepped to the side then bashed dad¡¯s now open leg with my shield, using the full weight of my body make him lose his balance. His knees buckle forward and he falls as I backed off as fast as possible, running towards mom just in case he rushes again. ¡°Stop bullying Cas, Julius!¡± She hugs and hides me from dad, like a mother hen shielding her chicks from the rain. Dad just looks at me stupefied from our exchange earlier. ¡°Did you learn that from anywhere?¡± He asks me. Did I? I mean I¡¯ve watched shows and movies before with shields, but like sword-fighting, it¡¯s actually very difficult to do in practice¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t know? I don¡¯t think I did¡­ we never practised shields, Dad.¡± He¡¯s lost in thought for a moment and I just awkwardly stay in my mother''s arms. I ask Kern to turn back to it¡¯s floating rock form so I can free my kinda tired arm. I just deflected that swing and my arm is already sore, dad could¡¯ve broken my arm if I didn¡¯t do that. The realization hit me like a hammer and I look at dad, unsure of what to feel about him now. He didn¡¯t even hesitate¡­ I mean he never really used his all in our previous spars, I know that because Mom isn¡¯t going crazy when we do it. She knows he won¡¯t hurt me and I know that too¡­ still, this is a bit much, right? ¡°Let¡¯s spar again, son.¡± Four words I thought I would be excited to hear again after that week-long vacation. Now it just fills me with dread. I wish I hadn¡¯t gotten a shield¡­ [2 spars later] I roll backwards as dad smashes Kern to pieces, leaving only the bracer and a plate-sized piece remaining. My arm hurts! I think it¡¯s broken! I release Kern and it transforms back to a rock, only tinier this time. Before it was around the size of my fist and now it¡¯s less than half of that. It looks kinda cute tho. I pet it with my right palm and it sends back a pulse of positive emotion. They¡¯re essentially like babies right now in expressing emotion, but they do understand me more than babies do. I hug my left arm and Mom gives me a piece of candy. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I ask her while unwrapping the candy. I popped it in my mouth and it tasted like strawberries. It¡¯s been years since I tasted it but wow, I¡¯m already so sick of that fake strawberry flavour ¡°It¡¯s from your Aunt Dels, it should help with your arm.¡± She eats one too, ¡°Plus it¡¯s very tasty!¡± ¡°Congratulations Cas!¡± Dad came up to us and sat on the ground. He was tidying up the mess we made in the backyard, it¡¯s smaller than warehouse we used before so we kinda broke stuff. Except for the garden area, no matter how sweet Mom is, she will still probably kill us if we stepped on any of her plants. ¡°Congratulations?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve finally found your weapon.¡± He says as a matter of factly. ¡°Weapon? My shield?¡± I look to my three new companions who¡¯re just playing around chasing each other in the backyard. ¡°Yes, haven¡¯t you noticed? We didn¡¯t train in the basics apart from footwork which you already know, but you still sparred better than when you were using the other weapons! Of course, it¡¯s still rudimentary, but your intuition with it is amazing enough to fight normally. We¡¯ll work on that for the rest of the apprenticeship, now that we know your weapon.¡± He says while patting my head. So all those months sparring with random weapons was just him trying to find out which one was ¡®my weapon¡¯? So much wasted time!! I tear up inside, thinking about how much more training we could¡¯ve done if we did this rite thing earlier. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll go rest for today. We also need to find different types of shields for you to try. And we have to find out if having a single-handed weapon will be detrimental for you.¡± *groan* I should¡¯ve just learned how to smith¡­ [2 Months later] I lean on the sewer wall in exhaustion after making sure the last monster is dead. After getting my shield, the next two tasks were to train to a certain stat value in Physical and Endurance, and learn how to use Aura, which is kinda like the body version of Magic. Dad explained that it¡¯s basic use is to strengthen yourself physically, but there¡¯s apparently more to it than that. The final task was to kill 10 F-rank monsters, which are monsters that can be taken on by an F-rank adventurer, either in a dungeon or in the wild. Dad brought me to the worst dungeon available, the sewers. I was a bit hyped for the trip, even though it seemed like a cliche first dungeon run, but I never actually thought about how s#@tty sewer dungeons actually are, pun intended.
Reward(s): Warrior Class Apprenticeship You have taken apprenticeship under Julius Newton, born of the D''varf race, whowill guide you with the necessary steps to obtain the Warrior class. Punishment(s): None
Task(s): Find your personal weapon Increase physical statuses intohigh F-ranks Learn Defeat 10 F-rank dungeon creatures
Progress: 100% Complete
¡°FINALLY!¡± I screamed as I saw the quest completion window in front of me. Tears ran down my eyes uncontrollably, but it¡¯s not because of the satisfaction of finally getting a class, nor is it because of the sadness of nostalgia towards the past training sessions with my dad. No, it¡¯s because of the horrid fumes wafting my face in this godd@#ned sewers! ¡°I¡¯m proud of you son. You¡¯re one of the fastest I know to finish an apprenticeship for the Warrior class!¡± He walks towards me and I lunge at him to hug him. Although it¡¯s actually so that I can use him to shield my nose from this terrible smell, he doesn¡¯t have to know. While walking towards the entrance of the sewer dungeon we see other masters and their apprentices'' training here, as well as some union students heading further down the dungeon. Mom said dungeons are born when too many monsters die in a certain area, or too much magic was used at once and letting it fill with miasma. The sentient races were tilting the scales of the world by almost eradicating the monsters in the world, so dungeons were born to make sure that they will never truly be erased. While they¡¯re a threat towards us, they are also important in the ecosystem of this world. Kinda like the carbon dioxide and oxygen cycle, except its magic and miasma.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Status!
Name: Castiel Newton Race: D''varf / Efir¡¯esh Titles: None(Shown) Otherworlder Bearer of Blessings !@$##$! Eater Classes: Warrior(Shown) Status:Fatigued, Injured
Physical: 2E Endurance: 96F
Mind: 8E Magic:47F
Traits Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 22 [Material Transmutation] Aetherial Manipulation Lv 17 [Force | Infusion] Sensory Enhancement Lv 7 [Ocular - Status | Intuition - Magic]
Skills(Active) Accelerate Lv 6 [Body Acceleration | Mind Acceleration] Minor Telepathy Lv 13 MinorAura Manipulation Lv 3
[an hour later] We get home from the sewer dungeon and I took a two-hour long bath, trying to remove the stench I got from that place. I¡¯m never going there again, they¡¯d have to drag my dead body if they want me to go there! F#$kin sewers. I grumble in my thoughts while scrubbing away with my iron wool. My stone plates are inconvenient at times¡­.That¡¯s a nice increase¡­ but what now? I got the class now but I still have a long time before attending the Union¡­ The Union is basically this world¡¯s version of a university, it started as a group of guilds working together to teach and train the younger generation. I don¡¯t know much about it yet, but Mom said they offer a lot of classes there for a plethora of topics. She once taught in one so she knows quite a lot. After bathing, I go downstairs and wait for dinner to come by just watching the television. They upgraded it to a newer model so there are more channels now. Still, entertainment is a bit scarce and bland so I just watch the news. It¡¯s mostly about the ongoing war with the barbarian tribes outside of the barrier though, and a few cases of kidnappings and murders here. Some notorious underworld gang supposedly popped up here recently¡­ hope I didn¡¯t raise a flag accidentally. Mom calls us for dinner and I finally asked the question that¡¯s been bugging me since earlier, ¡°What now?¡± They both looked at me in confusion so I clarify, ¡°I already have the Warrior class, what do I do next?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Mom thinks about what to say for a bit and dad just keeps eating. He¡¯s kinda bad with this stuff anyway and he knows it. ¡°What do you want to do? You finished with that class so fast you have all the time in the world to do anything you want in the meantime.¡± ¡°Hmmmmm¡­ can I learn another class?¡± ¡°Anything you want sweetie. But you have to tell us first what class is so we can find someone we can trust.¡± Dad pitches in, ¡°We were adventurers back then you know, so we know a few people that can teach you if you want to learn something outside of what we can teach you.¡± Oh, so they were adventurers, that never came up before. I mean I kinda got that already before, since they had S ranked plates and are probably unbelievably strong. Uncle Robert and Aunt Dels are probably also S ranked if that¡¯s the case. ¡°Can¡¯t I just take an apprenticeship exam?¡± I ask. ¡°That was back then son before you got that transformation skill and that daeriar skill. It¡¯s too dangerous right now¡± Hmmmmm¡­ that¡¯s a good point. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll think about what I want, I guess.¡± I shrug and continue thinking about it. [5 Months later] ¡°¡± A small rod of earth rises in front of me after calling out the spell name and ¡®will¡¯ my magic towards the spell array in my mind. I¡¯ve decided to learn both themage and the ranger class from Mom. It took some time to persuade her to let me try to get both, she eventually agreed since I kept nagging about how boring it is doing nothing anyway. So we¡¯ve been using the same warehouse dad and I used, and I saw Uncle Robert at work making these giant magic circles inside that can apparently help me relax and control magic. It still took around 4 months though, which is not bad, but quite slower than expected given that I have the enhancement. It¡¯s more akin to discovering a new mouth you can control, then learning a language using that barely controllable mouth. The problem I have is my preconception of what magic control is going to be like due to having a past life. ¡°Yes! You did it Cas!¡± Mom says accompanied with a hug as always. I was able to cast basic spells in the warehouse before, but this is the first time I¡¯ve cast one outside in our garden.
Reward(s): MageClass Apprenticeship You have taken apprenticeship underPhenea Newton, born of the Efir¡¯esh race, whowill guide you with the necessary steps to obtain theMage class. Punishment(s): None
Task(s): Learn about the basics of magic Learn Successfully cast a spell without any aid Create or modify a spell without any aid
Progress: 55% Complete
At least she didn¡¯t hide it as dad did. I¡¯m really worried about that last one though... 55% complete? That last task is 45% of the total?! Ughhh... ¡°It¡¯s thanks to you, Mom!¡± I break off the , which is more like a rod, and smashed it on the ground. It broke up like a piece of chalk and I stumbled forwards. ¡°It¡¯s so much weaker...¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, it¡¯s your first time casting it outside of the training area. You¡¯ll be able to do better with training and practice don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°*sigh* Now for the hardest part right?¡± ¡°You can do it Cas! It¡¯ll be easier than you think!¡± ¡°Will it really?¡± I look in suspicion. I remember dad saying she¡¯s a genius in magic so I take her saying ''easier than you think'' with a grain of salt. ¡°What was your spell. Mom?¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t get that task,¡± I tilted my head at her statement. Then why¡¯d you said it¡¯s gonna be easy? ¡°My final task was finesse-based, to use the exact amount of magic for a spell to be effective. Unlike your task, which is creativity-based, I had to practice all the time to complete it faster.¡± ¡°Oh, I want that one, Mom. Mine¡¯s too tough, I have to make something new? Hadn¡¯t there been hundreds and thousands of mages already before me? How am I supposed to do this?¡± She pats my head with a silly look on her face, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you have a lot of time right.¡± Winking at me, she walks away giggling to herself. ¡°Come on then, we still have your ranger training!.¡± I grumble, thinking about how much of a mistake this was again. I should¡¯ve just been content with the warrior class¡­ Dad and I still spar from time to time, though he lets me use my skills so that I can get used to my own fighting style. We walked to a gun range to train for my ranger class, which is basically like target practice right now. Like the warrior class, we¡¯ve been using a lot of ranged weapons. Hand-thrown stuff, bows and crossbows, guns and rocket launchers, and even siege weapons. Isn¡¯t it weird for gun ranges to have all of this stuff? Like really? Ballistas and cannons? Aren¡¯t those operated by more than one person anyway? Fantasy logic¡­ or is it reality logic? I just get lost in my train of thought as I missed target after target with the sling bow. [POV Phenea] My son is a genius. No matter how well he aims, nor how long he takes to aim, it always boils down to a 50/50 chance for him. After 10 meters, distance doesn¡¯t matter anymore to him. As long as the projectiles can reach he can hit with 50% accuracy. Well¡­ except for guns that have a good spread or ammo that explodes. He¡¯ll hit the targets without fail, whether directly or by collateral. I¡¯ve been trying to figure out how he does this, but even with all my experience, I have no idea. When a person becomes a veteran ranger, they develop a sense of where a bullet will hit, some can even predict where the attacker will aim. But with Cas, even I can¡¯t figure out if it¡¯ll hit or not. ¡°Cas,¡± I call out to him who is concentrating on hitting the targets with that sling bow. He turns to me and I almost feel my heartbreak with just the thought of telling him what I¡¯m about to. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll learn the class like this.¡± ¡°What do you mean, mom?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I pause, hesitating. I guess it¡¯s better than having him wasting his time. ¡°Your accuracy is¡­ bad.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m hitting them sometimes, right? That¡¯s what matters in the end when fighting against monsters. Also, I''ll probably get better it eventually?¡± ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s only if you¡¯re alone. When you fight outside, you¡¯ll usually have teammates you trust. If you can¡¯t trust yourself to hit your shots more than 50% at a time, how can they trust their backs to you?¡± I pause, hammering the fact into his head. "Also, your task is to be at least 90% accurate with any weapon." "But I did that with explosives and shotguns! I hit them all!" "You did, but you weren''t accurate, Cas. You only hit them because of the weapon, not because of your skill." He looks down, seemingly disappointed at himself. I rush to hug him and patted his back. ¡°It¡¯s okay Cas, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be amazing as a Warrior anyway, and also you¡¯re learning magic! You don¡¯t need to aim like a ranger with magic!¡± I lift his face up but he was actually lost in thought, and not crying nor sad. Shaking his head roughly, he hugs me back while saying ¡°Thanks mom, but I¡¯ll try to find a way to fix this first before giving up!.¡± I sight and just nod at his determination. He¡¯s going to have to learn through mistakes I guess, that stubbornness is amazing but it¡¯s also bad for him. He needs to know he can¡¯t do everything... Side Chapter 2: Plateau Side Chapter 2: Plateau *smash* ¡°Pay attention Avaelia!¡± My master, Mrs Beneverie, shouts from the sides after seeing me get hit by a log in the obstacle course. I tried to rush the course, only to get hit by an unsuspected log. ¡°Ughhhhh¡­¡± I groan as pain assaults me from the side. How they can subject prepubescent teens in this torture is a wonder to me. Then again, survival is more important than childhood memories I guess. ¡°You¡¯ve been distracted since morning, child. Is there something bothering you?¡± Master asks as we take a break from training. I think I¡¯ve been here for at least a decade now starting from when those ¡®gods¡¯ dropped us in this hellhole of a planet. It feels frustrating not being able to do anything right now to find my childhood friend. But that¡¯s about to change soon! ¡°I¡¯m sorry, master, I¡¯ve just been thinking about next week.¡± I wipe my sweat off and gulp mouthfuls of water from my waterskin. I feel my energy getting rejuvenated instantly.Water of lifeeee~ ¡°Ah, I see. Excited are we?¡± ¡°Nervous.¡± ¡°Why? You¡¯re stronger than most of your peers, and you¡¯ll be accompanied by a Guardian. In addition, any harm that comes to you will possibly incite a war. Why would you be nervous?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m scared, master.¡± I hesitated, trying to think of an excuse. I can¡®t exactly tell her that I¡¯m nervous I won¡¯t be able to find my friend from a previous life, or that I won''t be able to find a way back, or that I''d be forced to kill other people eventually. ¡°I¡¯m nervous about being away from home for a long time, in an environment that''s different from home.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, I trained you to be strong and you will be strong. Do not fret child.¡± Master answers, thinking that I¡¯m nervous about not being able to defend myself outside. ¡°Stand up, go through the course twice more and then you¡¯ll have the rest of the time for yourself. But for now, focus.¡± I nod and head back to the start of the course, cursing in my head. I f#@king hate logs¡­ [An hour later] *splash* ¡°Sooo goooooood¡­¡± I groan in pleasure while soaking my tired body in the springs of our band. It¡¯s more magical than it the ones back on earth though, being connected to our deific stone, the Plateau, gives it its amazing healing properties. I feel like I¡¯m melting! I wish I could just stay here forever... Back on Earth, I¡¯d never believed any miraculous stuff like this. A magical spring that can relieve your fatigue, heal your wounds, and regenerate your magical powers? That¡¯s just nonsense. But I would prefer going back and being with my friends and family, even if it means losing what I have here. Looking down on the water, I see myself. Well, at least my ¡®fake¡¯ self. This is not me, this is something else. I repeat to myself in a mantra, trying to remember what I looked like before. I glare in hate at the red-skinned, demon-like reflection in the water. My fiery golden eyes that emanates fear, the black tattoo-like markings on my face and body, the extra pair of arms I can grow on my back. Everything about this body is evil, this is not me.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. I soak for a bit longer before rinsing and heading out. I have to prepare for the trip, necessities should be packed away already I just need some other stuff. I should buy books or something. As I walk out, I take note of this amazing view. It''s going to be a while before I see this again. The buildings of the tribe still amazes me. Being a mix of ancient nordic architecture from Earth and magic, it looks like something that came out of a fantasy. Walls and ceilings lined with runes glowing occasionally, torches that burn forever without giving heat, and all kinds of different monster mounts with people milling about openly carrying weapons. I head towards the trading hub, people nodding towards me in respect. I never thought I¡¯d get used to something like this. Being the daughter of a band¡¯s Pillar, theybow towards me occasionally. It''s like a smaller version of what it feels to be a princess I guess. ¡°My lady, how may I help you?¡± A helper approaches me from the side as I enter the hub. I shake my head at him lightly, ¡°I¡¯m just looking around.¡±This feels like one of those awkward encounters back on Earth, every time I go to a mall or a shop. I go around the stall-filled areas, looking and occasionally buying things like books and gizmos. Despite the tribal theme the village has, technology is still similar or even better than the one we had on earth even if the designs are tribal.This looks out of place though. I pick up a black tile on display, surrounded by other modern-looking tech. Why¡¯s there an iPho- ¡°That¡¯s a phone, sister.¡± I hear a gruff voice to my left, one that belongs to my brother. ¡°Canden, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°I was just walking by, then I saw my dear little sister so I just thought I¡¯d help.¡± He grins at me. ¡°That little gadget is imported from our newfound allies, the Monuments Alliance.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to work.¡± I try tapping at it and looking for buttons, but apart from a slot in the back, there doesn''t seem to be anything else on it. ¡°It won¡¯t work with us of course, it¡¯s powered by their so-called ¡®plates¡¯¡± ¡°Plates?¡± I asked inquisitively. He picks up a blank wooden card and shows it to me. ¡°This, my dear sister, is a plate. Quite similar to our totems.¡± Raising his totem necklace from inside his shirt, he continues. ¡°They can use it to read each other¡¯s statuses to an extent and power their gadgets. There are other functions but these are the basic ones.¡± ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Our totems have a similar function, as identification and a power source. However¡­ ¡°What did they have to hunt for these?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the ridiculous part!¡± He raises his arms in emphasis, ¡°They don¡¯t have to hunt anything! Every child can just Awaken at their coming of age without any test!¡± I feel a bit surprised at what he said, but it is enviable and much more in line with my common sense. We had to hunt a beast, then use a part of it as our totem. It is said that the stronger the beast, the greater the potential of the child. And no, the Plateau will know if it¡¯s not your kill so no one can just buy a disaster-level material as a totem, nor employ the help of anyone strong. Once someone else touches that beast before you kill it, it''s void. ¡°You''re going to head there soon right?When are you heading out sister?¡± ¡°Tomorrow morning, the earliest.¡± ¡°I am going to miss you, you know?¡± He grins again and spreads his arms in a hug. I back away since I know what he¡¯s really like. Pretending like he¡¯s hurt, he dramatically vocalizes it. ¡°Oh, how you wound me, dear sister! Are we not- hey! Wait!¡± I leave him monologuing and continue looking around the hub, eventually being too bored to look around more and you annoyed to dodge my brother¡¯s area of awareness. As Iwalked towards the exit,I noticed a peculiar necklace on a stall. It looks like a jagged piece of black rock, there¡¯s no other decorations or even runes on it which is unusual here. I feel a weird compulsion towards it like it''s calling out to me specifically. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I ask the drowsy shopkeeper as I pick it up, trying to inspect it closer.It''s just a plain piece of rock though, it smells like nothing, there''s nothing written on it. It''s weirdly cold and warm at the same time though. What the hell? ¡°A necklace, my Lady.¡± I roll my eyes in exasperation, ¡°I mean what¡¯s it made of? Does it have any enchantments?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, and no it doesn¡¯t, my lady. It¡¯s only 5 kruangs though¡± ¡°...¡± I pay the man through my totem and continued to go back home. On the way, I kept inspecting the piece of stone, not finding anything special about it. Shrugging, I put it on and focused my thoughts on tomorrow. Wait for me Cas, I¡¯ll find you¡­. Chapter 12: Moving Forward Chapter 12: Moving Forward ¡°That¡¯s 1705 credits in total, young man.¡± Iplace my phoneon the front desk and it lights up dimly. A confirmation window pops upon it about the credit transfer and I confirm it. ¡°Thanks, Mr Penderson!¡± I grabbed the bag of enchanting supplies as I waved goodbye to the shopkeeper. This should last me for a month, so next on the list is¡­ alchemy stuff huh. I hope Lindsay is there. Lindsay is the shopkeeper-slash-alchemist where I buy ingredients from. Her apprentice is a merchant brat, he overprices everything so that he can gobble up that extra bit of credits he cons from people. Also, Lindsay is adorable and is more pleasing to the eye than the brat. I chuckle arriving in front of the store, seeing that familiar name that¡¯s the main reason why I always go to this place instead of other stores. PILLage and PlunDRUG¡­ hehehe never gets old. *ding* Opening the door, I feel a sense of dread wash over me as the figure in front of the cash register comes into view. It¡¯s the cursed brat! Why am I so unlucky today...¡°Welcome to Pillage and Plundrug! How ma- oh, it¡¯s you.¡±
Name:Wilhem Race:Humah Title:Lindsay''s Apprentice Classes:Trader Easily incapacitated
I roll my eyes at him. ¡°Well don¡¯t sound so excited about it.¡± Looking around the shop that looks like a modern pharmacy, except with more herbs and monster parts. ¡°Is Linds here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here. What do you want?¡± the brat scoffs at me. *rustle* I hear stuff being moved at the back before a feminine voice shouts, ¡°Is that Castiel there?!¡± Popping her head out of the doorway to see me, I greet her with a wave and a smile. ¡°Hi, Linds!¡±
Name:Lindsay Race:Humah Title:Miracle Worker Classes:Master Alchemist, Lady of the Herbs,Runelehring Dangerous, proceed with caution.
¡°Castieeeeeel!!!¡± Her 2-and-a-half-meter tall figure ran out of the doorway and pounced at me at full speed. I braced for impact but it was for nought. *bang* Despite my hoodie absorbing a part of the force, I still lose my balance and fall, catching her in my arms in the process. She then hugs me tightly and smothers me into her plentiful bosom. ¡°I missed you Castiel!! And I¡¯m going to miss you so much!!¡± ¡°Mffffphhh!!!!!¡± Flailing my arms and patting her to signal my lack of oxygen, she stands up and turns me around to hold me like a plush toy. She¡¯s amazingly just human, no mixture of any giant type of race so her tremendous height is fascinating. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you too Linds. Can you please drop me?¡± ¡°No.¡± She says, hugging me tighter. ¡°I¡¯m not going to see you for months I need to relish in this!¡± I acquiesced since this actually feels nice. Her blonde locks tickle the side of my face as they brush along it gently, tickling me and making me shiver. I blow them away from my face and looked up at her. ¡°*sigh* I promise to visit at least once a month. I¡¯m going to need to buy supplies anyway, I¡¯ve gotten used to the quality you deliver.¡± To be honest, it¡¯s not the best quality ingredients, but it¡¯s acceptable. Aunt Dels always told me to adapt to circumstances, and to make do with what I have. ¡®The best products don¡¯t come from the best materials, but from the best craftsmen.¡¯ she says every time I inadvertently blame the ingredients when the concoctions fail.I mean sometimes it is the ingredient''s fault though... I swear that silvergrass was rotten! ¡°Okay then, the usual stuff?¡± She drops me and goes behind the counter. The brat glares at me, but I didn''t see it. ¡°Yeah, enough to last me at least a month.¡± Pondering for a second if I forgot something else, ¡°Ah! Can I also get a candy press? I broke the last one accidentally.¡± ¡°How the hell did you break a candy press?¡± The brats voice chirps in suddenly. D$@n, I almost forgot he was here. ¡°With these.¡± I flex my arms to show off my magnificent biceps. Biceps that fit a healthy 12-year-old¡¯s body. He snorts and goes back to helping Linds gather the ingredients for me and I wander around the store, looking at the advanced stuff Linds has made. There¡¯s a load of concoctions here, from wound closing creams to pheromone perfumes. I just finished learning the alchemist class from Aunt Dels a week prior, so my recipes are still limited to low-level candies and ointments. I¡¯m never going to stop making candies though, they¡¯re delicious. Except for the strawberry ones. *thud* A heavy cloth bag filled with different materials is dropped in front of the counter and I feel myself getting picked up again from the back. ¡°Master, can you drop the rasc- *ahem*. Can you please drop the customer? He needs to pay.¡± ¡°He¡¯s paying with cuddles, there¡¯s no need to drop him.¡± "Master we''re going to get bankrupt if he does!" "If it''s for Castiel I''d gladly do it." "Heughk!" Her hug tightens enough to push the air out of me.HOW!? I''M MADE OF STONE! This back and forth went for a while, until eventually I just had Fels, my Daeriar, to bring the brat my card. It cost me a huge chunk of my saved allowance, slashing off around 3000 credits due to the candy press. Linds held me for a while more before hesitatingly letting me go. ¡°Promise you¡¯ll visit okay! Don¡¯t you dare grow taller in the meantime!¡± She tells me sternly and with an unbelievably serious face while pinching my cheeks. ¡°Uhhhh¡­ I promise?¡± She smiles and lets me go, mumbling to herself while returning to her hidden alchemist cave in the back of the shop. I wonder why she likes hugging me, I¡¯m practically half rock so I¡¯m not squishy at all. I shrug off the mystery and looked at my shopping list. Okay, done! Time to go back home! The trip home was just a normal, boring one. As I reach the house, a familiar voice shouts from Uncle Robert¡¯s place. ¡°Cas!¡± ¡°Sammy! Wanna hang out later?¡± I ask, eager to not be bored waiting for tomorrow in excitement. Sammy¡¯s the only other kid I knew before Awakening, a childhood friend would be the best way to describe our relationship. ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll come in a bit, mom gave me chores.¡± I nod and head to my room upstairs to take care of my groceries. Packing everything away into neat and labelled containers, along with the tools on my desk. It was fast work to pile them all neatly into a luggage box with the help of Stein, Kern, and Fels. They¡¯ve developed ¡®personalities¡¯ of sorts over the years. Kern is steadfast and unwavering, staying grounded all the time sitting on my shoulder or staying in his bracer form on my arm. Eventually, he changed his ¡®passive¡¯ form into a small, fat, turtle golem with amber-coloured engravings. He actually looks somewhat like a pokemon. Stein, on the other hand, is fond of being a red bird flying everywhere he wants to. At first, he was crashing into walls and destroying stuff since he¡¯s still essentially a piece of rock trying to fly as fast as a bird. Eventually, he got the hang of it and he can even do advanced manoeuvres. Fels transformed his shell into one that''s similar to The Obelysk, a small green crystal. It kinda looks like a more rugged version of the green crystal in one of the famous simulation game back on earth. He¡¯s developed an interest in magic while I was learning the mage class, he actually helped me with the final task and is often by mom''s side when she''s researching magic. I two of my classes to them, Kels can adjust my aim as long as he¡¯s in glove form or weapon form helping me get a ''ranger'' type class, though not quite. Still, though, it took 4 g#@!amn years to learn that class. I don¡¯t even know if it was worth it? Eh, what¡¯s done is done. *knock knock click* ¡°Cas? You in here?¡± Sammy peeks his tree-like head inside then proceeds to come in after seeing me. ¡°Hey Cas, what¡¯s up?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Just packing up for tomorrow, big day.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to the Union tomorrow! I wish I could go with you now, it¡¯s going to be so boring!¡± He plops on my bed, making the frame creak. He¡¯s a tall kid, taller than me who¡¯s 2 years older than me. Technically he is a tree so I can accept that. ¡°How¡¯d you finish your last task so fast? I have to make thousands of concoctions and you only had to make one!¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a genius, just accept it." I say jokingly before continuing, "Besides, creating your own recipe is harder than just making the same thing repeatedly. I just got lucky I¡¯m a D¡¯varf.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ but really? Rock pills? You know your race is the only one that can use that right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point, Sammy. You don¡¯t have any rock plates that need regenerating anyway, so you¡¯re not missing anything.¡± Yeah, my last task was to develop my own basic recipe. I made a rock candy that only D¡¯varfs can eat, using the same base as minor regeneration candies I compounded them into the rock to boost the regeneration of our rock plates. ¡°I¡¯m not going to make more though, I broke the candy press last time.¡± ¡°Of course you broke the candy press! It¡¯s for CANDY! You made ROCKS!¡± We hung out for a while, even going to Aunt Del¡¯s lab so he could show me his progress with the apprenticeship. The rest of the day went as it normally does, me eating dinner and going to bed afterwards. One rock, two rocks, three rocks¡­. I count in my head, trying to force my excitement down and knock myself into unconsciousness. [The next day] *beep beep* ¡°The carriage is here Cas!¡± I hear Mom shouting from downstairs and I hurriedly stuff the rest of my clothing in a duffle bag. With my luggage floating behind me using , I ran downstairs where Mom is waiting for me. ¡°You make sure to come home at least once a month, okay?¡± She hugs me and I hugged her back tightly. ¡°Of course I will, Mom.¡± ¡°And stay safe there, don¡¯t let anyone bully you!¡± ¡°I won¡¯t, Mom. I¡¯m going to miss you.¡± We finally release each other after dad honks again from the carriage. I go outside, excited with the new chapter in my life. ¡°You ready, Cas?¡± Dad asks me from the front seat. I look back at the house. Home. My home for the 12 years I¡¯ve lived in this world so far. I haven¡¯t found out anything as to why I¡¯m here yet, but at least I¡¯ve found a reason why I should stay. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I say as I bade farewell to the house and the previous chapter of my life. Getting on the carriage, I wave back at mom who¡¯s sending me off with her tear-filled eyes. A bit dramatic since I¡¯ll just be near the outskirts of the barrier, though it will be a long way away from the city. I look forward, excited and nervous at the next part of my life. Union, here I come! [Half a day later] ¡°Wake up Cas, we¡¯re almost there.¡± Dad rouses me up from sleep and I groggily sit up. Oh wow, finally. My stomach grumbles from hunger so I grab a snack rock I prepared and munched on it as I looked out the window. ¡°Oh wow!¡± It looked like a proper academy from the horizon. A huge building with a tower in the middle sat on the side of a mountain and surrounded by different buildings. There¡¯s also a village before getting to the academy. ¡°That¡¯s the Union, where retiree legends and veterans teach and guide future legends and veterans. Your mother had a job here before, researching and teaching magic and skills.¡± We get to the village and it¡¯s full of older students and normal villagers, just going about their business. ¡°We¡¯ll eat first. Then I¡¯ll be leaving you here.¡± ¡°What?!¡± I ask, confused and concerned. ¡°Only students, professors, and researchers are allowed past Greenhorn Town unless it¡¯s something urgent. You¡¯ll have to head to the academy yourself, or you can rent a place here in the village. Keep in mind that the rent will have to come from your pockets so consider that as well.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ why?¡± He smiles and ruffles my hair, ¡°You¡¯ll have to find out. Now let¡¯s go find a restaurant.¡± I nodded, still confused about that rule. I guess it¡¯s like the incidents with the awakening? I don¡¯t really know anything apart from it being a university and having good teachers. After eating lunch, we said short goodbyes and I went on towards the academy. It¡¯s around a 20-minute walk from the village which is quite a ways away. Arriving in front of the gates, there are other kids in a line with their luggage floating on boards behind them. ¡°Plate?¡± I placed my phone on the desk in front of him and it lits up, presumably showed him my basic info. ¡°Here you go.¡± He hands me a shield-shaped badge with a ¡®U¡¯ in the middle and a sword going through it from the top. It¡¯s coloured red and appears to be made out of some sort of metal. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked, inspecting the badge closer. He points towards a sign saying: Questions will be entertained by your respective guides.F#kin really? ¡°Head towards the building with the same symbol as your badge.¡± After saying so, he moves on towards the next student. I shrug and headed inside. There¡¯s a screen with a 3D manipulable map on the side of the entrance. The Main building is built on the side of the mountain, surrounded by different other buildings from the outside. The dorms are inside the forest just below the mountain. I head towards the building with the sword and shield on it, which according to the map is the Warrior¡¯s department. Inside, it looks like a normal college building, hallways leading to lecture rooms on the sides, a front desk, and double stairs leading to the next floor. I get in line with the other people queuing up on the front desk, although I have no idea why. Eventually, my turn comes, and the old lady manning the desk asks me the same question she¡¯s been asking the others; ¡°Weapon?¡± ¡°Shield,¡± I answer promptly. She raises her brow, before typing something on her computer. ¡°You have a phone?¡± I grab my phone and show it to her. She presses a button and my phone dings. I look at it and there¡¯s a request for an app installation from¡­ Ms Guinevere? I guess that¡¯s her name. I confirm and it puts a bunch of stuff on my phone. She then gives me a key attached to a keychain with the room number on it. ¡°Don¡¯t lose this, obviously. Head towards your dorm and they¡¯ll explain it there. If you don¡¯t know where it is, check the map on your phone.¡± I look at the keychain that says ¡°A12¡± and headed out towards the dorms. The scenery on the way there is nostalgic and melancholic, students milling about and hanging out with their friends feels so familiar. They¡¯re turning my way, presumably due to being a fresher. We don¡¯t have uniforms yet so we¡¯re sticking out like a jagged rock. The dorms are spread out in different parts of the forest. Each one looking like modern log cabins that are the size of manors. Using the map on the phone, I head towards mine which has a grey banner hanging down on the sides of the double doors, with the word ¡®Arkos¡¯ on it and some golden embroidery. ¡°Hello! Welcome to the best Dorm, Arkos!¡± A loud high pitched voice assails me from the side of the entrance as I walk in. My luggage trembled as I briefly lose focus on levitating them around. ¡°Uhh.. hi?¡± Blonde hair and green eyes, the stunning looking girl in front of me reaches her hand out and exclaims an excited greeting towards me. ¡°My name¡¯s Katlyn! I¡¯m a Deriair! You can call me Kat! Pleasure to meet you!¡±
Name: Katlyn Race: Deriair Title:??? Classes:??? Dangerous, proceed with caution.
I gingerly grab her outstretched hand and shook it. ¡°I¡¯m Castiel, you can call me Cas.¡± Deriair huh? First time seeing one that¡¯s not that obviou- ookkay she has wolf feet. The Deriair is a race that¡¯s basically the equivalent of fantasy ¡®beastmen¡¯. Trying not to stare at her feet, I walked further inside. There are not many people in the lobby. Just Katlyn and an Alkir receptionist-slash-guard, who¡¯s waving me over. ¡°Come here fresher, let¡¯s set you up. I need your plate¡± I give the plate to him and he begins to type stuff on his computer while making conversation. He has the template large lower jaw and tusks sticking out of his mouth that all Alkirs have. I used to call them Orcs before I learned that was actually a derogatory word for them.¡°I¡¯m this dorm¡¯s warden, you can call me Mike. My name¡¯s a bit longer than that but everyone just calls me Mike now.¡±
Name:Mike (???) Race: Alkir Title:??? Classes:??? INSTANT DEATH, DO NOT ENGAGE!
Well, I¡¯m kinda used to being a weakling but man I¡¯m sick of seeing everyone just being able to kill me in the blink of an eye. It¡¯s like I didn¡¯t get stronger¡­ The depressing train of thought gets interrupted by Mike¡¯s exclamation. ¡°Oh? Room 12 eh? Here you go.¡± He hands me a grey armband with the number 12 on it, it has the same design as the banner in front. ¡°You can pin it on using the insignia you got from the front gate.¡± ¡°Oh! Oh! Can I be his guide?!¡± Kat exclaims from behind me. She seemed to have climbed on my floating luggage, probably why it felt a bit heavier than earlier. ¡°You¡¯re grounded Kat, you know you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Uuuuu¡± She pouts and crosses her arms. Grounded? I kinda forgot we¡¯re all basically kids still... Winking at her he adds, ¡°Unless fresher here requests for it, I can¡¯t really let you.¡± I immediately felt a pressure surrounding me, like a snake coiling around its prey. I feel her hugging me from behind with her arms and legs like a koala bear. Tightening her grip she asks, ¡°Hey Cas, you want me to be your guide... Right?¡± I look to the side and see her face with a menacing grin. I need to be careful with my next wo- AGHK! She tightens her grip again as she sees me hesitating so I just nod my head. ¡°I... want her to be my guide¡­¡± I say in defeat and relief as she finally lets me go.How are people able to crush me with hugs?! Is there a skill I don''t know about?! ¡°Hooray!!! Let¡¯s go to your room!¡± she says while grabbing my arm and dragging me towards the hallway towards a room with a big number 12 written on it. She gives me instructions on how to get in with the badge, the plate, then the key. The key is mostly used for emergencies if the plate and badge are unavailable. The inside of the room is bigger than expected. A bunk bed and 2 closets on the left side, obviously for two people, 2 chairs on a long table opposite the door, and a lot of extra space for other stuff. *bang* Finally putting down my luggage, I massage my head from the mental strain of carrying them for at least an hour. I look at it for a bit before deciding to unpack later. Kat¡¯s on the bed looking at me with big eyes. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing!I''m waiting for you to go out so I canshow you around!¡± Thinking for a moment if I should postpone that for tomorrow, but remembering what happened earlier I shuddered and just decided to just go right now and nod at her. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I feel like this is going to be a long day of walking... Side Chapter 3: Of Stones and Metals Side Chapter 3: Of Stones and Metals *BOOM* "AGH!" Startled awake by a deafening explosion, I feel a surge of pain shoot up from my back making me exclaim. The muffled sounds of crying and shouting, piercing through the high-pitched ringing in my head, helped me grit my teeth to ignore the stinging and I feel myself getting lifted off the ground. Opening my eyes I see my mother¡¯s back towards me, and my frightened sisters face filled with tears and blood. ¡°We¡¯re going to be okay, Julius. Don¡¯t worry, everything will be fine.¡± She says and I felt her arm supporting me to stay standing up. *BOOM* Another explosion, this time much closer, rang through the entire room and my body. Debris from the ceiling came down on us, hitting me square in the back and making the pain sear my consciousness sending me slowly back to a world of blackness. ¡°Run Lienne! Hurry! AGH!¡±. My mother shouted, panickingly turning towards us in concern before a cold and bloodied blade suddenly stuck itself out of her stomach. My sister grit her teeth lifted me up and carried me on her back before running hurriedly into the darkness. *thud* I could only see a silhouette of a woman, kicking my mother¡¯s dead body onto the side before inspecting her sword. ¡°Tsk, these hard-skinned monsters chipped my blade. F#ck!¡±, A grumbling, muffled voice stuck itself in my head as the world around me faded back into nothingness. *gasp* Sitting up suddenly, the bed-sheets rolled off me wiping off some of the cold sweat that stuck on me. That nightmare again¡­ I stood up and went downstairs, still feeling restless from the vividness of that nightmare. Grabbing a drink from the fridge, the glass almost slipped from my grip due to my trembling hand, which I didn¡¯t notice earlier. As the cold and refreshing liquid went down my throat, my restlessness went down with it and the shaking subsided. Sighing at the thought of having that dream again if I go back to sleep, I shrugged and went into our backyard to swing my hammer and pass the time. *whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh* The wooden hammer in my hand rushed back and forth in the air as I swung it in a pattern. I absentmindedly thought about our son, whom I¡¯ve sparred with multiple times with this very hammer. He learned quite quickly, I had to trudge through that in my quest. I almost smashed my sister¡¯s bed practising it relentlessly. I chuckle at the melancholic memory.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. *BANG* ¡°Ah!!¡± I accidentally used Aura and made a small crater in the backyard, cracking some of the pots of flowers and herbs. *sigh* ¡°Phen¡¯s going to kill me¡­¡± As I said that, I hear a door opening behind me. ¡°Julius? Wha-¡±, my wife whom I probably woke up, calls out to me. I turn to her, expecting anger, but found¡­ concern. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I look at my hammer in contemplation towards such a simple question. Am I? ¡°...Yes, honey, I¡¯m fine.¡± I lied, not raising my face to look at her in the eye. It¡¯s been a few decades already, and I still haven¡¯t found the one who killed my mother, my family. Every day it gets more and more frustrating as I find no information on anything about them. The only rope of sanity I had held onto was my wife, the only reason I can still live life and not just spiral down in that pit of vengeance. But even then¡­ I look up at her, thinking about the fortunate timing of our first encounter. It¡¯s a good thing we had a son too, after that incident. But now he''s off to the Union. I went to the side to rest my hammer on the wall, avoiding her gaze again. ¡°Stop lying Julius, you¡¯re as easy to read as a beginner magic spell. What¡¯s going on?¡± I felt her hugging me from behind. I held her hand as I sighed from frustration before explaining truthfully. ¡°The closer we got to sending off our son to the Union, the more frequent ¡®that¡¯ nightmare came to me every night. It gets more and more vivid with every night, and tonight I can practically taste the blood and the ash in the air. I think I-¡± I feel her tightening her hug, making me pause for a moment. Turning around, I held her face up and kissed her forehead. ¡°I love you, and I love our son. And I know it¡¯s selfish but¡­¡± Breathing in and out to resolve myself to admittance, I continued. ¡°I need to find them Phen. I need to find those bastards.¡± She¡¯s quiet for a moment, burying her head on my chest. With muffled sniffling, she quietly whispers, ¡°I know that¡­ but I also know this will be dangerous and I don¡¯t want to lose you. Cas won¡¯t want to lose you too.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lose, Phen. I can¡¯t.¡±, I immediately retorted. ¡°The reason I wanted to be strong was to get revenge, you know that. I will kill them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean losing in a fight, dummy. You go down this path with that goal in mind, we might never get our Julius back.¡± Hitting me lightly in the chest, she lets go and holds my hand tightly. Moonlight reflected beautifully on her face, her eyes beamed with the same light as when we first met. That light of kindness and stubbornness that pierced through my stone-plated heart. Resolution ringing in her voice, she continued. ¡°I¡¯ll help you. Always and forever. But only if you promise me that you will do this not only for what you lost but for what you have now.¡± I can never win against her huh¡­ ¡°I''ll... try. For you. And for our son.¡± Feeling the warmth of her hand on my cheek, comfort and drowsiness assault me once again. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too, Julius.¡± *pinch* ¡°H-honey¡­ that hur- OW!¡± With a devilish smile, she tilts her head slightly and asks, ¡°Now that¡¯s over¡­ explain to me what you did to my plants, okay?¡± Chapter 13: Tourguide Chapter 13: Tourguide Going back to the now more populated lobby, Kat waves goodbye towards the very busy Mike as she pushes me forward towards the front door. I nod towards Mike and make a mental note of the other people in the room before getting shoved out of the door. ¡°FREEDOM!!!!¡±, Kat jumps up and spreads her arms wide open in celebration. The few people walking by just chuckled a bit before continuing on their way. A bit curious about her punishment I asked her, ¡°Wow. How long were you grounded?¡± ¡°Man! I¡¯ve been inside there for nearly a week! Ugh, can you believe it!? This is child abuse!¡± She complains facing the dorm before grabbing my arm and walking towards the main campus. ¡°They didn''t even catch me doing anything too! I was just starting to it up when¡­ ugh¡± She releases her grip on my arm then stops and turns to me with a bright smile. ¡°Anyway, enough about that. I''m out anyway, thanks to you! So, where should we go first?¡± Looking at her with a tired face I shrugged and answered, ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be the guide, you decide.¡± She stares at me for a moment before facepalming herself, ¡°Oh yeah! Sorry, I was a bit too excited, I forgot hehe." She takes her phone out and scrolls through something, "Hmmm¡­ I''ll have to show you the main campus first, then I guess we should have enough time to go around town too. Sounds good?!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to show me around tow-¡± ¡°Kat?!¡±, a deep loud voice calls out from behind Kat, interrupting me. ¡°You¡¯re out already?!¡± I look over and a figure of a huge Deriair with big, ram-like horns on the side of his head, is pointing at Kat who seems to have brightened up in seeing him. I-is he a student? He¡¯s bigger than dad! ¡°Kennel!¡± Kat suddenly exclaims and proceeds to lunge in full sprint towards him. The other person raises his arms and get¡¯s into a¡­ combat position? What? *WHAM* What the f#ck? Kat jumped and dropkicked him. Using his left arm to block the kick, he sunk slightly in the ground cracking it in the process. Uhhh what is happening? He then stepped forward and swung his right arm straight towards Kat¡¯s falling body. A flash of light appeared briefly from underneath her foot. *fwip* She flipped upwards¡­ was that a double jump? Woah Time slowed down a bit after activating my skill and I see a screen of light appear beneath her feet as she was upside down. She kicked off that screen and propelled herself towards Kennel, sporting a punch and warcry along the way. ¡°Yooouuuu dummy!!!¡± I deactivated my skill while they continued to fight. I continue to just stand there, unsure of what to do with the current situation. Is¡­ is this normal? Looking around, most people are going about their way and ignoring the spectacle, some seem to be watching, but none are as flabbergasted as I am. ¡°Aren''t you supposed to be grounded for longer? If your warden saw you, you¡¯d be in bigger trouble you know!¡± Kennel says as he grabbed her by the leg, spun, and threw her towards me. I move sideways instinctively to dodge. Wait, f#ck! Realizing I should probably try to catch her, I activated and went back to my original position. Before I could brace myself to catch her, a light screen flashes once again and she kicks off of it, jumps upwards, and does a flip before landing gently. ¡°Ha! Mike¡¯s the one that told me I could go outside!¡± She stands up straight, puffs her pitiful chest up, and points a finger at him haughtily with a wide grin on her face. Technically true I guess. ¡°What? No way! He can''t have, didn''t he caught us last week? How can h-¡± ¡°Caught me, Kennel, ME. You had one job! Just look out for anyone while I set up, but nooo you dozed off then ran away while I was getting caught.¡± ¡°What was I supposed to do? I-¡± *smack* ¡°-ow!¡± Kat had rushed and punched him in the face. ¡°Agh!!¡± Crossing her arms, Kat says as a matter of factly, ¡°You shouldn''t sleep on the job! You deserve that smack. Now we''re even.¡± She then opens her arms wide and hugs him, ¡°I missed you, buddy!¡± ¡°Ugh, yeah I missed you too. It¡¯s only been a week, though?¡± He said, rubbing his nose while hugging back.¡±Who¡¯s the fresher?¡± He looks at me with an inquisitive eye, and I do the same to him.
Name: Kennel Race: Deriair Title:??? Classes:??? Dangerous, proceed with caution.
¡°Ah! Kennel, meet Cas! He¡¯s the reason I got out early. Mike told me I can leave if he chose me to be his guide.¡± Kennel looks at me funny and points to Kat, ¡°Really? Her?¡± *smack* ¡°-ow!¡± Chuckling at the display, I shrugged at him and asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Not like I had a lot of choices at the time. ¡°Want me to guide you instead? I¡¯ll be a lot better tha-¡± *smack* "Stop hitting me!" Kat sends another kick towards his head which he promptly blocks with arm before hugging my arm tightly. ¡°No! My points!!¡± Points? ¡°Fine fine. Uhh good luck then, fresher, Kat! Imma go ahead and hunt for a fresher too.¡± He salutes goodbye and heads off towards where we came from. ¡°So¡­ what was that all about?¡± I ask Kat, still weirded out by the sudden combat. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s Kennel, sorta my best-friend-slash-partner-in-crime. We were doing a prank on one of the instructors a week ago, putting a spell-parasite that can latch onto a person and make fart noises *giggle* periodically once I activate it. We kinda got caught while setting up the trap hehe¡­¡± ¡°Well, I kinda guessed that already. I mean what was the fighting all about?¡± She tilted her head at me like I was the weird one asking about it. ¡°I wanted to smack him, he didn¡¯t want to be smacked.¡± *sigh* ¡°...sure.¡± I still have a headache from the overuse of earlier, so I just let it be. I guess smacking people is more complicated if everyone can fight. Sure, let¡¯s go with that. ¡°Oh yeah, your tour!! Hmmm¡­ I¡¯ll show you around the campus first! Let¡¯s go!¡± She marches on forward, humming a happy tune, and I shuffle along beside her. She explains that there are basically 4 main buildings on campus, the lecture halls where most of the classes are held in. The main buildings are Auras, Magics, Psychs, and Commons. Based on their names it¡¯s easy to guess which lectures will be held in them, except for the Commons which actually hosts a plethora of lectures, mostly non-combat, and is also the biggest building of them all. Other than the main buildings there are also the guild houses, smaller buildings that are used as the student bases of the guilds outside of the Union. Kat listed all of them but I was too spaced out to listen, let alone remember. She often casually mentions random worrying information like where the blindspots of security cameras are, or the location of the fastest escape routes if you get caught doing bad stuff. I mean it didn''t really help her last time. Lastly, she showed me the utility buildings like the cafeteria and the arena. Because of course, what sort of fantasy school wouldn¡¯t have an arena where students risk their lives on petty rivalries and deadly sparring lessons. *sigh* ¡°You¡¯ve been sighing a lot, am I boring?¡± Kat stops her rambling and pouts at me. I wave my hands in defence, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m just really tired right now and I have a headache.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Ohhh, wait a minute.¡± Fumbling inside her satchel, she takes out a questionably coloured pill. ¡°Eat this!¡± ¡°Uhhh what? No?!¡± I¡¯m not eating some random- ¡°Mpphh!¡± She shoves the pill in my mouth and holds it close. Her other hand blocks my nose as I feel the pill slowly turn to a liquid and go down my throat on its own. I get her off me and cough violently on the ground. ¡°*cough cough* What the hell waaaooohhh¡­¡± My... chest feels warm and pleasant all of a sudden. I feel my headache slowly going away along with my fatigue. ¡°What was that? My headache''s gone!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a rejuvenation pill. You haven¡¯t heard of it? It''s been on the market for a few months now and it¡¯s really helpful! I get sleep deprived because I usually do the pranks at night. It also helps when I have to stalk a place out overnight!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ uhhh okay?¡± I gotta learn how to make them, damn. It¡¯s like coffee in a pill! ¡° Thanks, I guess.¡± ¡°No problem! Just tell Mike I¡¯m doing good, okay?~¡± She grins in a sweet yet menacing way. ¡°Sure?¡± A realization hit me as we continue our tour. ¡°Wait¡­ why didn¡¯t... what¡¯s his name? Kenal?¡± ¡°Kennel?¡± ¡°Yeah, that dude. Why didn¡¯t he take one before so he didn¡¯t doze off when you were doing stuff?¡± ¡°Oh, because they don¡¯t like the side effects. And it¡¯s really expensive!¡± Raising her hands, seemingly trying to gesture how high the price of the pill is. ¡°But don¡¯t worry! I won¡¯t make you pay for it, I have a lot of it here see!¡± She then shows me a small box filled with the pills. ¡°I see¡­ thanks. Wait a minute¡­ side effects?¡± ¡°Just some minor stuff. You¡¯ll be more forgetful the longer you don¡¯t sleep.¡± *grumble* ¡°Also, you¡¯ll constantly be hungry. The energy has to come from somewhere right!¡± She giggles and continues, ¡°Let¡¯s go to town and find something to eat! I¡¯m so sick of cafeteria food. Ughhh¡± Well, that¡¯s not too bad I guess. The hunger part sucks though. We resume walking and head towards the front gate, my stomach grumbling all the way. ¡°Is this normal? I feel so hungry ughh.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s normal, though we do have to feed you ASAP before you die.¡± ¡°Wait, what?! Die?!¡± ¡°Yeah, well I did say that the pill has to pull energy out from somewhere. We have to hurry though you need to eat.¡± She then runs immediately towards the town and I chase after her. I look at her flabbergasted before chasing, ¡°You should have told me that sooner!!¡± ! Quick as a flash, I zoomed past her instantly with my skill. ¡°Woah!¡± When I got to tow, I went immediately to the nearest food stall and ordered. Grabbing the shish kebab looking food, I chowed down till the grumbling finally subsided. ¡°Ughh¡­ that was close.¡± ¡°Feeling better?¡±, A voice speaks out from behind me. Looking back I see Kat, who¡¯s just nonchalantly smiling there. ¡°Why did you not tell me that could kill me?!¡± I grab her and proceed to shake her angrily. She just giggles and I shake her some more. ¡°Stop! Stop I¡¯m getting dizzy¡­ hurghk!¡± ¡°Explain,¡± I said while putting her down. ¡°That was a joke.¡± ¡°...what¡±, I said incredulously. ¡°I was joking when I say you¡¯d die. Hehehehe. At most you¡¯d just starve for a bit until you eat normally again. But you wouldn¡¯t die that fast. Why would I give you something that could kill a fresher?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know?! Ugh¡± I turn around and proceed to ignore her, munching on some more kebabs. ¡°Awww are you sulking, Cas? It was just a prank! You were so scared, and so fast! How are you that fast?! Come one tell me! Tell meeeee¡± She keeps giggling behind me and teasing me. Now I get why Kennel said that. Ugh, I should¡¯ve accepted his offer, but then again he might¡¯ve been worse. As I chew the last of the meat off of the stick, I suddenly thought of a way to get back at her. Hmmm¡­ maybe that¡¯ll work. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Mike.¡± She froze. Her eyes widen and her smile stiff, she slowly looked downwards and whispered almost inaudibly ¡°please...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say you were a bad guide and you ha- HMPHHHH!¡± She suddenly jumped at me and blocked my mouth. ¡°No! Please don¡¯t tell Mike! I don¡¯t want to get in trouble again this soon! I don''t wanna get grounded agaiinn!!¡± ¡°Mpphh mmm!¡± Let go of me woman! ¡°I¡¯ll make it up to you! I¡¯ll¡­ uhh¡­ pay you money? No¡­ uhh I¡¯ll help you with your chores! Wait no... ummm¡± ¡°Mpphh mm mmMMMM!!!¡± How are you so strong?! I struggled, trying to get her hand off my mouth. She finally noticed, ¡°Oh yeah, s-sorry. Please don¡¯t tell Mike. I''m begging you!¡± ¡°Fine, fine. I won¡¯t tell. Just don¡¯t do that again. You scared me ugh.¡± She then hugged me tight while saying words of gratitude. What a tiresome girl. ¡°Moving on, I thought you¡¯d give me a tour here? Or was that a prank too?¡± ¡°No no, I gotta show you around town too. It¡¯s actually a part of the union, a lot of students and professors live here, and it¡¯s our supply line to the main city.¡± So we go around town and she introduces me to the big shops and establishments. Hmmm, I need to check out the smith here, hopefully, I can borrow their forge. Apparently, we can sell stuff here too and I''d like to earn some money for stuff. ¡°And finally, here¡¯s the Monument Union HQ! We can get quests here for extra credits and union points. Some lecturers will require you to do quests, you¡¯ll have to get them here.¡± ¡°Union points?¡± ¡°Oh! Didn¡¯t you get a pamphlet? I¡¯m sure they hand it out in the entrance. Eh, whatever, you can just go to the Union forum and look stuff up like rules and whatnot. Here, I¡¯ll send you the link!¡± *ding* ¡°Be careful though, instructors also monitor stuff there, so no funny business!¡± ¡°Wow, we have a forum. Hmmm, rules?¡± I open the topmost post and a giant bulwark of text pops up in front of me. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that. It¡¯s basically; don¡¯t do anything stupid, don¡¯t unsheathe or ready your weapons without any proper reason, and always have your plate or your emblem on you. You can read the specifics later, let¡¯s go inside the hall for now!¡± ¡°...sure?¡± I guess I¡¯ll check this out later. I closed my phone and proceeded to go inside the building. Opening the door, my nose is assaulted by a strong smell of caffeine. A row of receptionist¡¯s booths are directly in the centre, with holographic screens on the back with unknown information. People are queueing up on the booths and there are also some other freshers with their own tour guides milling about. ¡°Welcome to the quest hall! As I said earlier, we earn union points or credits here to spend in the town for stuff like provisions, ingredients, and equipment.¡± She then walked me through how to get quests and how to turn stuff in. There¡¯s a row of computers on the side for viewing information. Scrolling through the quest lists, I notice that some quests are exterminations and dungeon runs. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit dangerous for students to¡­¡± Squinting to see if I read the quest title right, I continued ¡°...hunt for a rank D poison sack from a Venomape?¡± She pats my cheek. ¡°Well, that¡¯s for the older students don¡¯t you worry about that for now.¡± Adventurer students are this strong already, how about graduates? How scary are the monsters out there that we have to have a country-wide barrier? After answering most of my questions, we went back out and grabbed some more food and headed straight back towards the campus while eating and chatting. Well, it¡¯s mostly her telling stories about her life in the Union so far. Though it''s actually more of a list of the pranks she''s done so far. No wonder she got grounded without needing evidence. ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot, any last questions?¡±, she asks as we finally got to the dorm. The sky was beginning to darken as we were walking back. ¡°Uhhh, none I guess.¡± As per every time someone asks me that, I forget most of the questions I had earlier. ¡°Well, okay then. I¡¯ll see you around the Union Cas! Don¡¯t forget to tell Mike I did great okay?!¡± She says as she runs back towards the main campus. ¡°Uhhh bye?¡± Well, that''s that I guess. *whoosh* She instantly got in front of me again and exclaimed, ¡°I almost forgot! Welcome to the Union!¡± She giggles while shaking my hand forcefully then went back to running away from the dorm. I didn¡¯t even see her rush me. I thought my speed was special. Shrugging it off, I go back inside and see some seniors and freshers talking with each other, generally looking like they''re getting along. I¡¯ll socialize tomorrow, I¡¯d rather sleep for now. Hopefully, the pill won''t stop me from sleeping. ¡°So, how was the tour?¡± Mike suddenly asked me from behind his desk. I approached him and leaned on the wall next to him. ¡°It was¡­ tiring.¡± ¡°Oh? You don¡¯t look tired at all.¡± ¡°Kat gave me a rejuvenation pill, which was nice. I got to stay awake for the rest of the day. Though¡­ I¡¯ll still be able to sleep tonight right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can sleep anytime even with that. Interesting. She gave you that huh, how generous. But I guess it is her after all.¡± ¡°Generous? I guess it is.¡± ¡°Those pills are sought after you know, a few hundred thousand credits per box for the cheapest one.¡± ¡°What?! She had so much in her bag I thought they were cheap.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, she has her reasons. Speaking of, how was Kat?¡± ¡°Well, she was very helpful. She answered all my questions I guess, and we got to finish everything today so there¡¯s also that. There¡¯s no dull moment with her I''ll give her that.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ anything else?¡±, Mike says with a suspicious glint. Should I tell him about the other stuff? Nah, the pill was expensive enough. ¡°Nah, nothing much. She¡¯s helpful and fun.¡± He breathes a sigh of relief after that and inputs something on his computer. ¡°Well, I guess Kat has to thank you later.¡± ¡°What why?¡± ¡°Guides that perform well on their tours are rewarded with extra union points. Plus, she¡¯s cleared her punishment from last year¡¯s mischiefs.¡± Ohhh, that¡¯s why she was eager and nice I guess. But¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit too easy? She could have threatened me you know.¡± ¡°I know Kat, she wouldn¡¯t do that anyway. Plus it¡¯s not my fault the rules are broken.¡± He winks at me. "Just put your badge here to confirm that assessment." I did so and waved goodnight to him. I came back to my room, still empty of activity other than mine. Looking at the pile of luggage at the side, the source of my headache earlier. ...tomorrow. I lie on the lower bunk closed my eyes, thinking about what happened today for a while before finally falling asleep. Hopefully, tomorrow wouldn¡¯t be as tiring. Chapter 14: Familiars Chapter 14:Familiars ¡°Mornin¡¯ kid. Got a good night of sleep?¡± ¡°Yeah, I feel better than yesterday, that''s for sure. I¡¯m going to go for a run around the campus, is that fine?¡± ¡°Sure, you can go ahead. Quite early for a run though, you usually get up at this time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a habit.¡± I nod towards him and continued towards the door, ¡°See you later Mike!¡± I hear Mike¡¯s signature grunt of affirmation before going out of the door. *inhale* *exhale* ¡°Alright, time for a run. Stein! Kern! Fels! You can come out, but make sure no one sees you, okay?¡± Feelings of confirmation pulse through our connections before they went off their own ways, excited in exploring the immediate area. Except for Kern of course, who just goes back to his bracer form and latches on my left arm. *sigh* I feel like a parent with one extremely introverted kid. I run randomly on the campus, exploring the place more thoroughly and planning my future routes of exercise. There are surprisingly few people out, I would¡¯ve thought exercise would be something that¡¯s normal here. Then again we are all pre-teens¡­ maybe I¡¯m the weird one? I notice a few people walking around this early have pets with them. Well, ¡®pets¡¯. They¡¯re not cute Pomeranians or chihuahuas, they¡¯re essentially walking around with monsters. Giant black wolves, six-legged gators, giant pythons, and the like. Coming back to the dorm after the run and cleaning up in the showers, I laid down on the bed and opened my phone to look at the app sent to me by the old lady in the yesterday. ¡°Ah, so this is the ¡®pamphlet¡¯ they were all talking about It¡¯s literally an app called Pamphlet¡­. it looks like forums can be accessed here too. What else? Schedules, clubs, guilds, lectures and¡­ tasks? Why do I already have tasks... oh. I have to get a uniform and basic equipment. Maybe I should make a list.¡± I open a sticky-notes app and typed out a to-do list. ¡°So, get a uniform and some basic equipment. Register at the dorm? Done with that. Read rules and regulations¡­ I¡¯ll do that later. Find a guide, check. Oh? I need to register for lectures, huh, I can probably ask Mike how to do it. Or maybe message Kat... but I¡¯d rather not.¡° I shiver at the thought of getting dragged along on Kat¡¯s antics. ¡°I can register familiars or pets!¡± I remember the people walking their pets around earlier, then I look at my three familiars floating around the room playing with each other. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s worth a try, I won¡¯t have to hide them all the time, then.¡± After adding it on the list, I took some time to think about what else I want to do. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll look for smiths to work under, or maybe an alchemist. Although Linds might hate me, so I guess smithing it is.¡± Enchanting wasn¡¯t an option because trainee level enchantments are usually worthless and are put in a discount bill. Smithing is slightly better since people still need basic tools. I mean I won¡¯t be making any legendary weapons anytime soon but I should still be able to make a decent one. I can also probably make ammo, but it¡¯s too tedious... ¡°Rocks! Almost forgot, I need a rock supplier. Hopefully, there¡¯s one in town, delivery from the main city is expensive ugh¡­¡± Sitting up and calling back my familiars, I stretched and got ready for the day. ¡°Ohhhkay let¡¯s start the¡­ ah.¡± I forgot about my luggage, which is still stacked up in the corner of the room. I sighed and just put it in the todo list. Putting on the watch and the hoodie Uncle Robert gave to me back then, I tidied my bed for a bit before going outside. Getting to the lobby, I see Mike busy with a new fresher so I sit on the side to wait before asking him about the stuff I need to do. Which reminds me, I¡¯m going to have a roommate huh. I might not be able to hide those three so I guess registering them is the best way... ¡°Hey, you a fresher?¡±, someone calls out to me. I look over and a red-haired kid is nodding towards me. He dresses like a lazy person, with long-sleeved baggy clothes and sweatpants, but his eyes are just like his hair, fierce and wild. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Kent,¡± he says as he approaches me offering a handshake. ¡°Cas, nice to meet you.¡± I shake his hand firmly and was surprised by the rock plates on the back of his hand. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re a D¡¯varf?¡±
Name: Kent Race: D''varf Title:??? Classes:??? Dangerous, proceed with caution.
¡°Half, yeah.¡± He nods, ¡°Nice to see another one of us around here. There aren¡¯t many D¡¯varfs in the Arkos dorm so it¡¯s good to have you here.¡± His rock pattern was different from mine, it was mostly hidden by his baggy clothes, but looking closely, I can see impressions of it through the fabric. ¡°Most other D¡¯varfs go for smithing and other crafting classes so they¡¯re generally in the non-combatant dorms.¡± ¡°Dorms are separated by classes?¡± That¡¯s new information. But what about multi-classers? ¡°Not necessarily classes, just by profession. Whether they¡¯re combat-oriented or not. Did you get your tour yet? I can be your guide if you want.¡± Kat¡­ ¡°Thanks, but I already got the tour. My ¡®guide¡¯ might have forgotten that tidbit of information.¡± He raises his brows and continues, ¡°No harm done, at least you know now. Anyway, you probably have figured it out but our Arkos dorm is a combatant dorm, although we still get ¡®grey¡¯ classes here and there. What¡¯s your class?¡± Grey classes huh, that¡¯s pretty rare as a basic class. Gray classes are classes that can¡¯t be classified as a combatant or non-combatant, as they usually belong in both worlds. Trappers and Bards are considered grey classes. ¡°I¡¯m a warrior main, you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a warrior too. It¡¯s nothing surprising really, you can usually expect other D¡¯varfs to be warriors since our aptitude for other classes basically suck. Not saying there aren¡¯t any ranger or mage D¡¯varfs out there, but just saying they¡¯re rare.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I notice the fresher that was talking to Mike finally going away so I bid goodbye to Kent. ¡°I gotta go, nice meeting you, Kent.¡± He nods and I approached Mike with a question. ¡°Hey Mike, can I ask you something?¡± He grunts and signals me to continue. ¡°Where do I get my uniform and basic equipment? Also, where do I register my lectures and my pets?¡± Mike raises his brow before answering, ¡°You should really read the rulebook thoroughly kid.¡± I scratch my head in embarrassment. ¡°Anyway, you can register everything using the app or in the administration building, but for pets, you have to go there personally with them.¡± He taps on his computer and an image of the map appears on his desk. He points to one of the buildings, ¡°This is the Armament Hall, you can get your stuff there, just show them your plate.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks, Mike!¡± I hear his grunt once more as I went towards the door and headed out to the Armament Hall. On the way there I browsed through the different lectures and found out that I¡¯m already registered with a few basic ones and I can choose two or three extra lectures. I¡¯ll decide later, classes don¡¯t start till next week anyway. Inside the building, I head towards the man sitting at the front desk and greeted, ¡°Hello, can I get my uniform and basic equipment here?¡± ¡°Ye¡¯, gimme yer plate,¡± the man at the counter said with a gruff voice. I handed him my phone, which has my plate inside, and he just put it on his table and typed away on his computer. ¡°Shield, huh? That¡¯s unusual, no other weapons?¡± I shake my head towards his question and he continues, I¡¯m afraid the only shields we have are bucklers, heaters, and towers so if you use a specific one you¡¯re out of luck.¡± ¡°Oh I have my own weapon, it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Well, academy rules are that you need to be issued with one even if that¡¯s the case. These have particular enchantments on them that¡¯s required by the Union. So unless you¡¯re willing to have your shield enchanted, you¡¯ll have to use this.¡± Huh, I never thought of trying to enchant my familiars, if that¡¯s even possible. I should ask Uncle Robert. ¡°I¡¯ll get the tower shield then. Though, is it possible to have my shield enchanted if I change my mind later?¡± ¡°Sure, fresher, you¡¯ll have to return the academy provided shield and pay for the enchantments later if that¡¯s the case.¡± I nod in understanding and he asks a bunch of other questions about my classes, the equipment or weapons I use with them, the non-combatant classes I had that I plan to take lectures in, and other stuff to determine what I need. ¡°Wow, well that¡¯s quite a bit of equipment. Remember any damages outside of academic use is going to be billed to you or your parents.¡± In total, I got issued a shield, a shotgun, a handgun, and an assortment of crafting equipment. Curious about the rule, I asked. ¡°So it¡¯s fine if it breaks while having a lesson?¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s fine, we can replace it here anytime. I know it¡¯s kinda stupid but that¡¯s the rule.¡± He hands me a container with the equipment, along with a bunch of uniforms. ¡°I don¡¯t need to get fitted for this?¡± ¡°What? They still do that nowadays? Huh. Well, we have genius enchanting trainees here in the Union, so you can expect stuff like this to be the norm here.¡± Well¡­ I guess the public perception of enchanting is that it¡¯s really expensive, but in actuality, it¡¯s a bit more affordable than what they think. Although having self-fitting enchantments on all your clothes would be a bit overkill. ¡°Well then, that¡¯s about it, fresher. Here¡¯s your phone back.¡± He hands me my phone and I use to pick up my equipment and head out towards the next building. The admin building is the most populated building I¡¯ve seen so far, presumably because all students have to take care of their schedules. I¡¯m here to register the familiars though, which reminds me¡­ I look around to see if anyone¡¯s looking at me. After confirming that the coast is clear, I all out my familiars. Stein! Kern! Fels! The three sneakily came out of my heart plate and rested on my shoulder. ¡°Hopefully I can get you guys registered.¡± The only reason I was scared of showing them out before was because of the kidnappings at the time. Although that did almost happen anyway... After queuing up for an ungodly amount of time, roughly 24 minutes, I finally got to the front desk. ¡°Hello, I¡¯d like to register my familiars.¡± ¡°Sure, can I have your plate please.¡± We go through the usual dance of me giving my phone and them typing away at a computer. ¡°Head towards the room on the left and show them your familiar,¡± the receptionist says as she hands me my phone back. I go to the room and it heads towards an open yard area. A girl is sleeping on a chair hugging a giant egg. She was snoring really loudly so I tapped on her arm to wake her up, ¡°Umm, excuse me?¡± ¡°*snort* wha- Oh! Uhh hey, I was just¡­ uhh... Just making sure this egg was warm! I totally wasn¡¯t slacking off!¡± She got flustered and was vigorously shaking her head from side to side. ¡°Suuree¡­ I¡¯m here to register my familiars.¡± She suddenly perked up and pressed something on the wall next to her. A screen lit up on the wall and a keyboard popped out of it. She typed something in that made my profile appear on it. ¡°Mr Newton? Okay! Show me them!¡± ¡°Uhh, they¡¯re already out.¡± My three familiars floated from my shoulder and circled around me. I point to each one and introduced them to the girl, ¡°That¡¯s Stein, with the red glow. That¡¯s Kern, the yellow one. And that green one¡¯s Fels.¡± ¡°Oh! OH! What are they? I thought they were weird accessories at first!¡± Actually¡­ what are they? I know I got them from the rites and that they¡¯re a part of me, somewhat. ¡°I don¡¯t really know what they are? The closest thing to them would be golems or living stones I guess.¡± ¡°An unknown familiar! I don¡¯t remember anything like them in any of the textbooks I¡¯ve read! Can I research them, can I?!¡± She sticks her face way too close for comfort into mine so I back away before replying. ¡°Uhh, I¡¯ll think about it.¡± I am curious, but I¡¯m not risking that. ¡°Can I register them now?¡± ¡°Oh! Uhh sorry. I get a bit excited with familiars and pets¡­¡± She backs off and scratches her head, flustered once again. ¡°Yeah, you can register them here. Just one moment¡­¡± A circle of light glows in the middle of the yard as she types something on the keyboard. ¡°Just get them to float in the middle of the circle one by one, okay?¡± We go through the procedures of having them registered, with the girl trying to get my permission to experiment on them. I register what they¡¯re capable of, well at least some of what they¡¯re capable of, and we arbitrarily named their species as golems. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s all then. Remember, anything they get up to is your responsibility now okay? A-are you sure you won¡¯t let me experiment on them? I¡¯ll take good care of them! I swear!¡± ¡°... I¡¯m sure. I¡¯ll come back if I ever change my mind.¡± I answer with exasperation. I am interested too, but I don¡¯t really trust anyone with experimenting with them. They are virtually unkillable though so I¡¯ll probably consider it later. Her eyes brightened up and we exchanged phone numbers while she drills into my head the advantages of her experimentations and how it¡¯s going to help science. Her name¡¯s Aria, and she¡¯s not a lecturer or an employee. The Union apparently lets seniors work for credits in their spare time. I leave the building and tell my familiars to roam around as they please, but maintain a safe distance from me. As per usual the other two explored and Kern stayed with me, sitting on my shoulder in his turtle form. I patted him lightly, which elicited a pulse of contentment from our connection and went on forward towards the town. Ah, wait, I should probably drop off my equipment first... [An hour later] ¡°*burp* ahhh, that hit the spot.¡± I patted my belly after eating lunch from a rock supplier I found. Looking up at the sun I thought about what to do next since I¡¯ve already done most of what was on the list. ¡°That smithy took me in quite quickly though just because I¡¯m a D¡¯varf. Are we really that good?¡± Talking to myself while walking around the town to become more familiar with it, I get lost in my thoughts just thinking about random stuff before I sense one of my familiars tugging at our connection along with a dangerous sense of urgency. ! I rush towards the direction I felt the connection at and ordered my other familiar to rush there as well. I navigate a maze of alleyways eventually ending up in a rundown apartment building. I spot a red glint from a bird arriving and circling around and surveying a compound. So it was Fels that sent the signal since Stein is up there. I kept sensing my connection with Fels while going through the apartments as silently as I can. *whisper* I hear a sound as I came up another floor so I redoubled my efforts on keeping silent as I carefully came closer bit by bit. As I crouch-walked over to the end of the hall the muffled whispers became more audible and understandable. ¡°-ell this thing to the collector, he might be interested enough to buy it.¡± I hear a gruff voice that made me freeze in my tracks. Breathe, Cas. I closed my eyes and focused on eavesdropping on the conversation. ¡°A picture? Sure, I¡¯ll send it, just wait a bit.¡± *click* ¡°Got it? Yeah I know it looks like a rock, I¡¯m not a moron. Why the f##k would I pick up a rock to sell to the collector? THE Collector.¡± He¡¯s talking on the phone¡­ . Time slowed down and I felt a significant drain to my stamina as I quickly peeked my head into the room to check it out. It looks like a large storage room with a few windows opposite the door. A man is wearing casual attire, white shirt and brown jeans, leaning out the middle window holding a phone to his ear with his other hand grabbing Fels.
Name: ??? Race:??? Title:??? Classes:??? Minor danger, do not ignore
I tug on my connection with Fels to see if he¡¯s okay, and he was so I quickly pulled my head back and deactivated my skill, making my perception of time go back to normal. I can take him, huh. That¡¯s weird¡­ he looks and feels dangerous? ¡°Yeah yeah, anyway go prepare an anti-magic container for this thing, I¡¯ll be there in a- *clack* Who¡¯s there?¡± F##k, stupid f##king rock body¡­ ugh. Breathe, Cas. Kern readies himself and transforms into a heater shield while I mentally told Stein to get ready as backup. I chose a premade disguise from the watch Uncle Robert gave me back then and long, dirty blonde hair came down from my head and my skin changed colour. There¡¯s a huge drain in my magic as I activate the voice changing function along with the disguise. ¡°Come out now eavesdropper, I know you haven¡¯t left yet.¡± He spoke once again as I made sure everything¡¯s ready before steeling myself and stepping out of the corner. Just¡­ act natural¡­ here we go. ¡°Hey!¡± I high pitched, effeminate voice comes out of my throat as I point at Fels. ¡°That¡¯s mine! Give it back!¡± ¡°Abi- no¡­ who are you?¡± He was taken aback for a moment before continuing, ¡°This is yours? I don¡¯t think so, kid. Just scoot along before you get- f##k!¡± I activated my as I rushed him with my shield in front. He manages to roll out of the way while simultaneously throwing a few knives in my direction. One of them almost hit me but my hoodie deflected the knife and I quickly blocked the others with my shield. I increased and ran at him again while activating to cast s around him. Or at least I tried to, the spell did not activate and he dodged once again in the same manner, but this time I was able to graze him slightly. ¡°How are you this fast without skills?!¡± Huh? But I did use a skill? ¡°Kid, you better f##k off before I get angry. Aghk!¡± Stein, in bird form, flies through the window behind him and hits him straight in his back. He turns around and I use this chance to get close to him and bash him on the side with a shield as hard as I could, turning even higher in the process, launching him through the wall sending dust and debris everywhere. I tried to follow him in but I noticed a blue glint inside the debris that slowly floated up and flew towards me. ¡°Fels! I¡¯m glad you¡¯re fine, bud. We have something to worry about for now so get ready. Stein!¡± I had Stein merge with Kern into my shield, adding blades and spikes on it, and effectively transforming it to a tower shield. Breathe, Cas. You can handle this. I wait nervously for the dust to settle. After and an ungodly amount of time, I¡¯m greeted with an empty room on the other side of the hole. ¡°Huh?¡± I go through it, still hiding behind my shield. I survey the room, finding it unoccupied. Looking out the window of the room, I spot the silhouette of a man running away from the apartment through the rooftops and eventually disappearing into the alleyways. He¡¯s gone¡­ *thud* I finally collapsed on the floor and breathed heavily from exhaustion. I deactivated everything that was draining my energy, the camouflage illusion and my . My three familiars snuggle up to me, trying to comfort me as I processed what just happened. I hugged all three of them, ¡°I almost ran out of magic, that disguise drains so much ugh. Next time we should probably be more careful with wandering around.¡± I need to get out of here, he might be grabbing backup¡­ I stood up and hurried back towards campus. [POV ???] What the h#ll was that little girl?! F##k! I almost got done in by someone half my age! S##t! F##k! I ran through the alleyways, trying to lose any possible tail I had before coming back to the hideout in the other end of the town. ¡°Took you long enough, wait¡­why are you hurt? Did you bump into some Duty elite? You weren¡¯t followed were you?¡± A melodious voice greets me as I sat on the couch. ¡°Fawn, just¡­ I don¡¯t want to talk about it. And no, I haven¡¯t survived so near the Union only to be followed back like some f##king amateur.¡± A purple-haired girl with deer horns stepped out from the darkness, wearing a sundress and sporting a bright smile. Her entire image exudes innocence and virtuousness if you didn¡¯t know how conniving and shrewd this vixen actually was. She pouts at me, ¡°Language! Anyway, where¡¯s the rock? I got a cage ready in the back.¡± ¡°I dropped it, just leave it okay? I¡¯m going to get some shut-eye.¡± I laid down on the couch and tried not to think about the throbbing pain on my side. Little sh#t got me good. She must have had a unique skill if she could move like that without Magic or Aura. That should''ve been good money. ¡°Ugh¡­ wasting my time I could¡¯ve spent stealing money from those freshers¡­¡± I tuned out her voice before slowly falling asleep thinking about that little girl. She looked so much like her¡­ Chapter 15: Settling In Chapter 15:Settling In It¡¯s been three days since the incident. I already reported it to Mike, our dorm¡¯s warden, and he, in turn, reported it to someone higher. It¡¯s actually surprising how much effort they¡¯re giving this for the student¡¯s security, considering the dangerous quests I¡¯ve posted in the Quest Hall. They¡¯ve been investigating since I told Mike, but¡­ ¡°Sorry kid, they can¡¯t find anything on the guy. Any kind of tracking spells can¡¯t find a whiff of his scent even in the apartment, so it has to be a unique skill.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Thanks, Mike.¡± Unique skill? Like my . He massages his forehead as he looked me in the eye, ¡°You ought to be more careful, kid. You haven¡¯t even been here for a week and you¡¯re already causing me a headache. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have had Kat be your guide.¡± ¡°Sorry? I.. uhh¡­ I¡¯ll try not to get robbed again?¡± ¡°*sigh* I know, I know. It¡¯s not your fault, it¡¯s just¡­ I¡¯m not supposed to say this right now but I think you ought to know why they¡¯re busting hard on crime recently.¡± He scratches his chin briefly before continuing, ¡°Well, you¡¯ve probably heard about the peace treaty with the southern tribes right?¡± ¡°I think? Wasn¡¯t that like 2 years ago or something?¡± I struggled to remember what little of the news I watched a while ago. He grunted and continued, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s when they started talking about the terms. Trades and whatnot between the nations, that sort of thing. They just finished with the draft of the treaty a few months ago. Anyway, as part of the initiation of the treaty, they¡¯re going to send a few of their clansmen to enrol in the Union in different cities.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ interesting. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard that the treaty is finished?¡± ¡°Well, watch the news, kid, it¡¯s all over it. Also, I said the ¡®draft¡¯ of the treaty is finished. We¡¯re still technically only in a ceasefire. Until the embassies in the capital cities are finished, we can¡¯t exactly say the treaty is in effect.¡± I really should watch the news more. I got too panicked, hurrying to finish my alchemy class I forgot the outside world for the last few months¡­ ¡°Okay, so what does that have to do with what happened?¡± ¡°It has everything to do with it. I said a few clansmen will be enrolling in the Union. It means we can¡¯t afford to have criminals anywhere near. Imagine what would happen if they¡¯re attacked while the treaty is still being finalized?¡± ¡°Ah,¡± So I guess that¡¯s why they¡¯re cracking down even a small case like mine, can¡¯t risk any incident in the middle of the treaties. But¡­ ¡°Why risk having them enrol here then?¡± ¡°They spout bulls##t about it being in good faith and a show of trust or something, but in reality, they¡¯re probably public spies. There¡¯s always an under-the-table deal with everything the higher-ups decide so there¡¯s probably more to the story. But well, now you know why they¡¯re taking your case seriously.¡± He grunts with contempt while talking about the higher-ups. ¡°Is it fine to tell me all of this?¡± I wondered out loud. The things he just told me felt like confidential information, and I¡¯d rather not have assassins killing me in my sleep to not spread information. He chuckles, ¡°It¡¯s fine, they can¡¯t keep stuff like this under wraps for too long. They¡¯re going to make a public announcement soon, just don¡¯t blab too much before that. Even then, they won¡¯t do anything, they¡¯ll just confirm the rumours eventually.¡± Huh, well that¡¯s good. ¡°Thanks, Mike.¡± He grunts and goes back to work, whatever his work is. It¡¯s so boring here, I wish I didn¡¯t go this early. Ugh, I guess I should fix my room now. My luggage is mostly still untouched due to both my laziness and the lack of obligation to do so since I don¡¯t have a roommate yet. [an hour later] ¡°*phew* That took too long. I think my packing priority was a bit skewed though.¡± Wiping my sweat, I look at the shelves packed with tools and the crafting materials stashed under the bed, then glance at the almost desolate closet containing only 3 sets of clothing. ¡°Maybe I should buy more clothes.¡± I laid down on the bed, bored out of my mind once again. Do I really have nothing to do right now? Kern, one of my familiars, crawls up to me and lays down on my chest. I pat him while checking my connection with the other two to see if they¡¯re fine. Wait this reminds me¡­ I should try out that thing. ¡°The room¡¯s right here, hurry!¡± I hear a muffled voice outside the door breaking me out of my reverie. That sounded familiar? *click* The door opens and an unfamiliar red-skinned hihant accompanied by a familiar blonde deriair comes in with a cart of luggage in tow. Kot snatched another fresher huh, my condolences, guy. She looks at me surprised before exclaiming, ¡°Raz!¡± Raz? ¡°It¡¯s Cas, nice to see you too, Kat.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I said hehe.¡± she sheepishly denies her misnaming me. Suddenly perking up once again, she pointed to the stranger and introduced them. ¡°Oh yeah! Cas, this is Elias, your roommate.¡± I sighed and stood up to shake his hand, Kern still glued to my chest. ¡°Nice to meet you, hope you don¡¯t mind me being your roommate.¡± I look at Elias more closely. Like a typical hihant, his skin colour''s a shade of red. I also notice tribal markings peeking out the nape of his neck. What¡¯s most peculiar though is his eyes, they¡¯re yellow, closer to gold, and they almost look like they¡¯re glowing. Cool... He looks at me with a frozen expression, muttering something under his breath. "Elias?" He breaks out of his trance and quickly returns my handshake. He then continues inside looking around the room, glancing every so often at me. I sit back on the bottom bunk, and Kat lays down beside me. ¡°So, what''s up, Cas?¡± ¡°Nothing much just bored really.¡± ¡°Well, you did get here pretty early, classes are going to start soon though so you won''t be too bored then. Wanna tag along the tour in the meantime? I¡¯m gonna be his guide today, and I think he has a fresher friend that¡¯ll also be joining later.¡± Should I? But if she''s going to do something like that again, I''d rather be bored. I reply in my head, but not wanting to be rude I instead answered, ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t want to be a bother.¡± ¡°What? He¡¯s not gonna be a bother, right?¡± Kat looks at my new roommate, who pauses from unloading his luggage. He takes a look at me, then her, then he hesitantly shakes his head. ¡°See? He¡¯s fine with it!¡± I¡­ don¡¯t think he is though. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I gotta do something later so just go ahead.¡± ¡°Aww, well, your loss! Stay bored here then, Elias and I will be having fun somewhere else! Let¡¯s go!¡± She practically pulls Elias out of the room and I give him a smile of pity hoping he survives. *bang* The door closes and I lay back down in bed. ¡°Well, that was perfect timing, just when I finished cleaning up.¡± I opened my phone to remove the ¡®luggage¡¯ task on my todo list. ¡°Speaking of, I was thinking about something earlier¡­ what was it?¡± I feel something move from my chest and remembered Kern is still there. ¡°Ah! Yeah let¡¯s try enchanting you, shall we?¡± I¡¯ve already asked Uncle Robert what would happen and he has no idea either, so I¡¯m going to test it out. I grabbed my enchanting supplies from underneath the bed, which basically consists of an engraving pen, a normal pen, and crystal ink. I¡¯m still a beginner at this so my tools are still rudimentary. Uncle Robert showed me his extensive collection of elemental inks, brushes, pens, and stuff I don¡¯t know about. I had Kern transform into his shield form and put him on the table. I opened up an app installed in the wristwatch, E-moire, which is an enchanting grimoire with all the symbols I¡¯ve mastered. ¡°To think Uncle Robert made this so quickly, I mean I only gave him an idea but he fleshed it out so well.¡± I picked a harmless enchantment to test it out, ¡®Glint¡¯. It¡¯s a minor enchantment from the magic system that makes the item shinier. It can also be overloaded with magic to produce a tiny beam of light to blind an opponent. After engraving the character into Kern, checking up on him if he¡¯s hurt every now and then, I grab the brush and painted the engraving with the crystal ink. Careful and slow brush strokes are needed to make sure the enchantment doesn¡¯t fail or malfunction on activation. Minor enchantments aren''t too dangerous though, at most they''ll fizzle and lose effectiveness. ¡°Okay, done! Now, let¡¯s test it out.¡± I fill the enchantment with mana, and Kern gradually looks shinier as I do so. ¡°It works! I can probal-¡± Kern instantly loses his shine a few seconds after releasing the flow of magic. ¡°That¡¯s not right?¡± I close my eyes and focused my onto the shield, feeling a distinct lack of magic even though I just filled it. I recharge it again to the maximum without overloading it and the same thing happens again, Magic is dissolved as soon as I cut off the supply. ¡°Weird¡­ why¡¯s that happening?¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I look at the engraved character only to find it half gone. ¡°What? Why did- ohh you regenerate¡­ right. Kern, can you try stopping your regeneration?¡± He sends me a feeling of confirmation and I went to work once again. [An hour later] ¡°Why. Won¡¯t. It. Work!¡± *bang* I banged the table in annoyance. ¡°Just stay in! Why won¡¯t you stay in?!¡± I¡¯ve tried and failed constantly over the past hour, trying it repeatedly to figure out why Magic won¡¯t stay on the enchantment. ¡°Breathe, Cas.¡± I take a few seconds to calm myself. ¡°Well, at least I learned that you can remember engravings, so there¡¯s that.¡± I pat Kern, now in his turtle form, resting once again on my chest after laying down. ¡°But that¡¯s basically useless since I can¡¯t make them work! Ugh¡­¡± Stein flies in through the window, followed by the now cube-shaped Fels. ¡°What are you all doing? Oh¡± They cuddle my chest and I get a warm feeling of comfort through our connection. ¡°Ah, I must¡¯ve been broadcasting my emotions through our connection huh. Thanks, guys¡± I stay like that for a while before getting up and stretching. ¡°Well we can try again later, maybe I¡¯ll test it out on the others instead, I mean Fels can cast Magic I probably should¡¯ve started with him.¡± Stein and Fels went back into my heart plate and I had Kern on my wrist. ¡°Anyway, time to head to the smithy.¡± I¡¯ve started part-timing on a smithy since yesterday. I greeted Mike on the way out of the dorm and headed straight towards town, munching on rocks and fruit for lunch along the way. ¡°Kent?¡± A familiar face greets me as I enter the smithy. He looks up from the arrowhead he¡¯s sharpening on the grinder. ¡°Oh, Cas right? You work here too?¡± ¡°Yeah, I started yesterday. How come I didn¡¯t see you then?¡± I grabbed an apron and clocked in using my plate. He continues grinding casually while answering, ¡°I had a fresher to guide yesterday, so I couldn¡¯t come. She''s a D''varf too, you''ll probably get to meet her later. Anyway, I finished my quota early I¡¯m just popping in now and then grabbing extra cash.¡± The smith we work at pays on a quota basis, it doesn¡¯t matter how long you work as long as finish the quota. Clocking in is more of a security thing. ¡°Kent? We have a customer?¡± A burly Sprigg, the guy that hired me as soon as I applied, comes out from the back room wearing a blacksmith¡¯s attire and carrying an intricate sword. ¡°Ah, no it¡¯s the new kid. Boss wanted to see you when you came by the way.¡± A Sprigg blacksmith... never thought something would seem odd after more than a decade here. ¡°Did she say why?¡± He shakes his head so I just shrugged and headed straight back. The back ¡®room¡¯ is actually a gigantic workshop, a lot smaller furnaces, anvils,and an assortment of machinery and tools areall round with a big circular furnace right in the middle. *clang clang clang* A petite figure is hammering on an anvil next to the big furnace. She¡¯s our boss, another D¡¯varf woman with short black hair, toned body covered in dark red rock plates, and eyes with the same colour as the furnace coals. I approach to see what she¡¯s working on. Woah, all those hammering and she¡¯s making such small dents on that metal... ¡°You wanted to see me, boss?¡± ¡°Shush!¡± She ignored me and continued working on the knife-shaped lump of metal with undivided focus. Shrugging, I just went to my station and started working. I never actually realized how many mundane stuff smiths make like kitchen utensils and farming tools. Kitchen knives, forks, spoons, all that stuff is my quota. No swords and hammers just like normal fantasy settings. *clang clang clang* A few kitchen knives later, the hammering from the middle finally stopped and the sizzling sound reverberated throughout the room. I dropped my work and approached her while she was quenching the blade. ¡°Well, that was a load of work for such a boring blade. Look at this, see how plain this is?¡± I she practically shoved the deadly blade on my face as she said that. ¡°Hours of work, for this! If I didn''t owe that a##hole a favour I wouldn¡¯t even think of making this¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± I ask while looking at the blade more closely. It¡¯s amazingly plain, like the most ordinary of ordinary. But it looks flawless, perfect even. She hasn''t even sharpened it yet but that could probably slice rock. She turns to me with a disgusted look on her face, as if the answer to my question is as vile as it gets. ¡°It¡¯s... a kitchen knife. Anyway, enough about that. Why are you here?¡± She tucks away the blade into a prepared container on the side. A kitchen knife? ¡°Uhh, you called for me?¡± ¡°Ah yes, the new kid. Sorry, I couldn¡¯t see you yesterday, I was busy with something else so let me introduce myself. I¡¯m Shana, the owner.¡± She offered a handshake which I immediately took, ¡°Cas, nice to meet you.¡±
Name: Shana(???) Race:D''varf Title:??? Classes:??? Considerable Danger, engagement isnot advised.
Fake name, huh.¡°Well, now that¡¯s done, get back to work.¡± What? ¡°Uhh¡­ was that all?¡± ¡°Yeah, I mean treeman over there should¡¯ve finished your paperwork right?¡± I nod and chuckled a bit at her endearing nickname towards the Sprigg. ¡°I just wanted to introduce myself, he says it helps with worker morale or some s##t.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± She waves me off and goes into the front with the ¡®kitchen knife¡¯ she just made. Well, that was something. I focused on fulfilling my quota, thinking I can probably laze around when classes start. Treeman comes by now and then to check on my work and advise me on how I can improve it. I still don¡¯t know what his name is,everyone just kinda calls him ¡®Treeman¡¯. I¡¯ve also begun working on a side project, trying to reverse engineer the candy press and my other tools so that I don¡¯t have to buy new ones if they break. The day quickly went by and it was already afternoon. I clocked off and said goodbye to Treeman, heading towards the town centre to eat. [a few minutes later] *munch munch* ¡°You really like these huh.¡± The old man manning a kebab stall voices out while casually cooking up more. I''ve been eating these for dinner for the past few days.Screw a balanced diet, this stuff is delicious. ¡°Yeah, the sauce you put on the meat is amazing, old man! Where''d you get it?¡± ¡°Thanks, kid, it¡¯s a family recipe. Maybe I''ll give you the recipe once you''ve bought a thousand of these¡± Hechuckles as he lathered the meat with the sauce before grilling. We talked for a bit about the food, me giving ideas to make more delicious stuff. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s open to rock-based food though¡­ ugh, rock-kebabs sounds divine. *bang crash* Something flies into a nearby stall, destroying itand sending debris flying everywhere. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know kid, you better hurry out of here though this looks like trouble.¡± He quickly packs up his stall and mounts it onto a floating board to drag it along with him. I look at the destroyed stall only to see a bloodied man slumped over the debris. What the¡­ I was about to approach him when I heard a familiar voice, ¡°Ha! You people dare try to attack a fresher under my protection?!¡± Kat?! Looking over, I see herfamiliar figure surrounded by a bunch of gangster-looking men and women that are backing off slowly. Behind her is my new roommatealong with another girl hihant, his friend I assume. The gangsters started running away and spreading as soon as someone screamed from the roof. ¡°S##t! Guards! Run!¡± ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± Kat goes after the guy on the roof, jumping repeatedly in the air. I wanna learn that. I should ask her later if she can teach me. I ran towards the two freshers Kat was guiding, ¡°What happened?¡± The unknown girl hihant immediately became hostile and pointed the staff she''s wielding towards me. ¡°Who are you?¡± Eliasquicklyputs his hand on her staff and lowers it gently while shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m his new roommate. What happened here? Why¡¯d they suddenly- Look out!¡± Two flew directly at them from a mysteriously dark alleyway on the side. I had Kern change to a shield and made Fels combine with him. Fels actually decreases the physical defence of the shield, however, he can increase defence against magic to an abnormally high level. The heater shield quickly grows into a big plateshield as I run into the line of fire and stepped backwards to absorb the impact. *bang bang* I immediately grabbed the two using , activating in the process to boost my mental facilities in dividing focus between shielding them and carrying them. But they both break free of my and Elias rushes towards where the bolts came from. ¡°Hey!¡± I ran after him, increasing my velocity again with my skill to catch up. He¡¯s fast! *thud* ¡°Aghk!¡± A sound of pain rings out from the alley and I immediately turn the corner to find my roommate holding the perpetrator by the neck. Nodding towards me, he carries the guy on his back and walks back out of the alley. I guess I didn¡¯t need to protect them.
Name: Elias(???) Race:Hihant Title:??? Classes:??? Minor danger, do not ignore
Fake name... with the benefit of hindsight I actually should''ve done this earlier.As we got out, a bunch of guards wearing white military uniforms with the school insignia on the back are running around and rounding up the ruffians. ¡°Well, that was something¡­¡± ¡°You there, who are you?¡± A guard approaches me, hand on his weapon. I fished my hoodie¡¯s pocket for the school badge and presented it to the guard. He nods and grabs the man being carried by Elias before telling us off about vigilantism. ¡°Cas!¡± I feel a small and light object latch onto my back, blond locks tickling my shoulders as she hugged me from behind. Like a koala bear. ¡°Hey Kat, mind telling me what that was?¡± ¡°I dunno either, some guy just randomly wanted to kidnap those two so I beat them up.¡± She says while putting her chin on my shoulder. Since when were we this close? ¡°Anyway you¡¯re here now, let¡¯s go grab dinner!¡± She finally gets off me and I turned to face her with a raised brow. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a tour to finish?¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Her eyes widen and she looks around for the two hihants she was supposed to be guiding. ¡°They¡¯re over there Kat.¡± I point to them and she sprints hurriedly towards them. I followed figured I might as well come along with them. We walked straight back to school with a couple of guards who accompanied us until we got to the gates. Kat was just talking all the way through, detailing how awesome she was in the fight. I¡¯ve asked her to teach me how to do the double jump thing she does all the time, and she said she can¡¯t teach me yet. Bummer, I could practically fly with that. ¡°It took you three days. Three. Days.¡± Mike looks at me with exasperation. ¡°I know it¡¯s not you this time, but man this¡¯ll be a lot of work¡­ ugh.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not exactly going around looking for trouble. Why are they targeting those two anyway?¡± ¡°Well, remember those clansmen? Yeah, well they got intel on it and they¡¯re targeting any fresher that looks remotely like them.¡± He massages his head slowly, ¡°And no, I can¡¯t tell you whether or not they are the ¡®exchange students¡¯. At least I can¡¯t yet.¡± He types something on his computer and then hands me a black tile, smaller than the nail in my pinky. ¡°Here¡¯s a distress beacon, whenever you¡¯re in trouble just power it up with whatever you have. Aura, magic, psy, anything, it¡¯ll automatically send a signal to me along with its location.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ thanks?¡± I look at the tiny thing, it¡¯s amazingly convenient given its size. ¡°Just a precaution kid, I have a bad feeling about this semester.¡± He gets up and leaves with those ominous words. Well.. there goes my peaceful school life. Chapter 16: First Class Chapter 16: First Class Elias and his friend are unpacking his luggage as I come inside the room. His peculiar and sparse belongings have a minimalist and tribal feel to them. A tooth-shaped lamp, bone carved pens, leather books, stuff like that. And wow,fur bed sheets? Those look absolutely comfy though. ¡°Hello.¡± He nods towards my greeting and his friend just ignores me completely and gets back to unpacking luggage.Uhh, did I do something? I look to Elias who shrugged his shoulders at me. ¡°Well, uh, can I help you with anything?¡±He shook his head so I just awkwardly laid in my bed for a few minutes while they cleaned up before pretending to be asleep just to avoid the deafening silence created by my non-speaking roommate and his snubby friend. [POV ???] *bang* ¡°Do you realize what your stunt in town cost our guild? Small jobs! Small! Jobs! What¡¯s hard to understand about that? Now the Union¡¯s put us on its map and they''ve doubled the security on our areas of operation!¡± The boss¡¯ words reverberate through the deathly quiet hallway almost like the roar of a wrathful beast. A young man is kneeling in front of him, shivering in fear and guilt as he tried to withstand the pressure currently being forced down on him by his own father. That moron would¡¯ve gotten in trouble for being too hot-headed. Did he even check why that job had a high bounty before trying it? That vixen¡¯s going to have a field day with his stunt of his, she might even steal his seat from him. *clack clack clack* Well¡­ speak of the devil. Footsteps echoed through the room as a petite figure walks slowly towards the boss. Wearing a pitch-black turtleneck dress and stiletto heels with her purple hair flowing around her antlers and down her back, she exudes an aura of maturity and authority just by her appearance and demeanour alone. An entrance fitting for a minx. She spoke with a pleasant and melodious voice, ¡°I apologize for my tardiness, Father. I had to take care of some matters before coming here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite alright, Fawn, have a seat here. I assume you¡¯ve already heard of your brother¡¯s stunt earlier?¡± Fawn takes a seat beside the boss and you can just feel the kneeling moron glare at her with indignation. ¡°Did I tell you to raise your head, boy?¡± Pressure increases once again and the boss¡¯ son almost kisses the floor due to it. ¡°We¡¯re not done yet with you.¡± ¡°Father,¡± Fawn called out, ¡°I¡¯ve already taken care of the aftermath. You don¡¯t have to worry about it being traced back to our guild.¡± She glances quickly at me with a knowing look. Ohoh, so that¡¯s why you had me cause a voidout on the other side of the town, sneaky lil s##t used me as a distraction. Still, though, it¡¯ll limit their operations since the Union and its affiliates will definitely hound down on every little crime for a while. The boss looked surprised but mostly pleased, towards her initiative. He praised her immensely and chastised his son just as much, but he wasn¡¯t stupid. He knew she¡¯s doing this for the succession and the young boy was still his son, no matter how stupid he was now. ¡°Raise your head, boy.¡± The young man raises his head, revealing the tears shed by the earlier exchange. ¡°I¡¯ll be sending you to Pyllar, you¡¯re going to attend the Union over there and oversee the operations within that branch. Understood?¡± Huh, Pyllar eh. From what I¡¯ve heard they¡¯re a bit militaristic there, and their Union is more so. Pyllar is another region that¡¯s a part of the Monument alliance, named obviously after their deific stone that projects a region-wide barrier for protection. Our Obelysk is a part of that alliance, along with Bastyon and Pyer. ¡°You can''t do that Fa- Aghk!¡± Cracks started forming underneath the boy as he was forced down once again. ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking for your opinion, I asked if you understood. I have given you many chances in the past, this is just one of the few that built up the mountain of disappointments you have offered to me. Now, once again. Do. You. Understand?¡± With every word, his father¡¯s statement further forced him downwards without the need of increasing the pressure on him. He weakly replied with disinclination, ¡°...yes, Father.¡± Well, that does it. She¡¯s going to use this chance to pander more to him. If it wasn¡¯t for his cunningness he¡¯d have fallen to that girl¡¯s tricks by now. The meeting concluded with a few lackeys dragging his son out of the room. As everyone left, she approached while sporting a mischievous grin on her face. ¡°Well, that was quite a show. To think you¡¯d immediately capitalize on his stunt earlier.¡± ¡°Well, theoretically, when a hot-headed moron like him gets a little ''push'', he will cave in easily like a tower of sand. Theoretically, someone might have suggested the guarantee of his position by completing the high bounty job.¡± She winks at me before walking away. ¡°Oh yeah, thanks for earlier. That distraction sent guards in disarray, it was easy pickings for me and my men afterwards. They won''t have any incentive to find us since all the littleimpshave been returned. Oh, and I¡¯ll find that little blonde girl for you, don¡¯t worry. I owe you more than that after all.¡± ¡°I told you, you don¡¯t have to. Just leave it.¡± She waves back nonchalantly before exiting the hall. Well, time to lay low for a while. Maybe I should find a proper job in the meantime? Criminal-for-hire doesn''t look good in a resume though. [POV Cas] *thud* A sound similar to a heavy sack of sand falling to the ground startles me awake. ¡°Not again¡­¡± I sighed and sat up the bed to look over the unconscious body of my roommate sprawled out on the floor. I reach out to shake him awake but was reminded of the previous time I did that. I threw a pillow to him and used to repeatedly hit him with it. ¡°Dude, wake up.¡± He grabbed the pillow mid-swing and threw it forcefully towards the wall. Glad that¡¯s not me this time. ¡°Ughhh- what?¡± He raises his head, looking around him before settling towards me. I give him an annoyed look and he just thumps his head back onto the floor. ¡°Ughh..¡± Grumbling, I laid back down on my bed. ¡°Yeah, I told you we should switch beds.¡± My phone alarm rings out not even a second after making myself cosy with the covers. ¡°D##n it...¡± I sat up once again and see his sleeping body accompanied with the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and the droll rolling down his cheek. Why do you always seem like a different person in the morning? I got up, stretched, and went through my morning routine, running through the campus and grabbing breakfast before I got back. As I walked through the hallway after my workout, I see Adira standing in front of the door to our room wearing a uniform. Adira¡¯s the hihant girl that¡¯s always with Elias. Her skin¡¯s a darker shade than Elias¡¯, coupled with her short black hair she looks a bit like a tomboy. Contrary to our initial meeting, she¡¯s actually a nice and sweet girl. She¡¯s just a bit overprotective over Elias but she gradually opened up to me after a while. She¡¯s more of a maid, to be honest. She cleans, brings food, and generally takes care of Elias all the time. Lucky bastard. ¡°Mornin¡¯ Adira. You¡¯re here early?¡± I grabbed my phone and unlocked the door for her. ¡°Good morning, Cas. It¡¯s the first day of classes, I need to help mis- Elias, I need to help Elias prepare. You know how he is.¡± *click* ¡°Well, yeah.¡± I gestured to my still sleeping roommate and she scampers to wake him up. Why doesn¡¯t she get thrown to the wall? Double standards! I go for a shower to clean off sweat and as per usual Adira¡¯s already dragged Elias somewhere else. I wonder where they go to since the Union¡¯s on a semi-lockdown right now. Going to the town¡¯s a tedious process, especially for hihants. Ever since that almost-kidnapping that happened last time the Union¡¯s checking on everyone that comes and goes in the campus. Security has almost doubled because of the multiple attacks that happened all over the town that day. Targets were even reported missing for a few hours before being discovered unconscious in different secluded areas, having signs of a memory wipe from a mental skill. ¡°Good thing classes start today or I would¡¯ve been bored as heck.¡± I put on my uniform for the first time, feeling the weird sensation of it adjusting perfectly to my average build. ¡°First day huh. I¡¯ve gone through this multiple times in my past life, but I still feel nervous and giddy nonetheless. Haah¡­ Breathe, Cas.¡± I calmed down the rapid beating of the heart and the frantic flying of the butterflies before looking in the mirror. My green eyes staring back at me, reminding me of my mom. The rock plates on my face combined with my round face looks fairly reminiscent of my father¡¯s. Geez, with my hair getting longer like this I¡¯m looking more and more like him every day. I fixed up my hair then checked the phone for my schedule. ¡°I¡¯m surprised they don¡¯t have a general assembly or something similar on the first day. Basic Warrior Combat huh, this ought to be interesting. I never sparred with anyone close to my age.¡± My ignorance towards my own strength compared to anyone else¡¯s is something I wished to mend during my time here. Apprenticing under my parents gave me less chances to socialize with anyone in my age bracket. I did fight Sammy to help him get his Warrior class, but I was only defending so that doesn¡¯t count. He¡¯s probably as unaware as I am.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I grabbed the shield the union provided, feeling the foreign weight on my arm and he jealous tug from Kern. ¡°It¡¯s not like I like this Kern. Once I figure out how to put enchantments on you I¡¯d not be using any other shield, I promise.¡± He sends a sad tug followed by one of understanding as he went back into my heart plate. Sighing, I grabbed my triple-barrelled sawed-off shotgun and holstered it behind my hip. This is one of the few ranged weapons I can use effectively within mid-range without Stein adjusting my aim. They didn¡¯t exactly allow me to have a portable cannon or any kind of explosive weapon. ¡°Maybe I should¡¯ve brought this before, an extra weapon wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± I thought out loud as I filled and attached an ammo pouch on my belt. Double-checking to make sure I didn¡¯t forget anything, I walked outside only to come running back due to Mikes reminder about my Badge. The surreal sight of students walking around with their backpacks along with holstered swords, axes, guns, and all sorts of weapons is something out of a fantasy book. And it reminded me that I forgot my backpack... so I had to rush back once again. D##nit Cas, make a list next time! Once I finally made sure I have everything I rushed to class with my ever so trusty unique skill and made it before the lecturer did. The room is actually more of a covered gym with seats on one side and a fighting area in the centre. Like in my past life, I enjoyed the solitude offered by the back seat. With that goal in mind, I headed straight for it and sat down. I scanned the room briefly, looking for a familiar face only to be disappointed by the lack thereof. I put my head down the desk and pretend to sleep, just like every other antisocial student ever. *sigh* I should¡¯ve walked slower, this is anxiety-inducing¡­ Status
Name: Castiel Newton Race: D''varf / Efir¡¯esh Titles: None(Shown) Otherworlder, Bearer of Blessings, ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡öEater Classes: Warrior(Shown) Ranger, Mage, Enchanter, Alchemist Status:Healthy
Physical: 16D Endurance: 2D
Mind: 32E Magic: 73E
Traits Semi-earthen Physiology Lv 27 [Material Transmutation] Aetherial Ma-
*bang*A startling noise boomed and echoed from the centre of the room made me abruptly close the status window. In the middle of the room stood an Alkir leaning on a large wooden log with a handle on one end. A frightening pressure weighed on me as her pitch-black eyes shone with war-like vigour which is further accentuated by her blood-red tusks that look to be engraved with a tribal pattern. ¡°Listen up, I will count to 100 and by the time I¡¯m finished all of you better have been warmed up and are combat-ready.¡± Her voice bellows across the deathly silent room and everyone is somewhat confused or stunned by her sudden appearance. ¡°One by one I want you all to come in front of me once I call you, and you will struggle with all your might. Anyone slacking, thinking that they can fool me, will be removed from my class immediately and be forced to take it again next year with no exceptions. One!¡± A few students were about to voice out their complaints or questions stopped when the door opens and a group of students come in carrying bags engraved with the symbol medics, a drop of blood. Well, if that isn¡¯t a foreboding sight then I don¡¯t know what is. I stand up went to the side to stretch while I rechecked and prepared my equipment. I loaded the shotgun and attached my shield on my left arm. While the lecturer continues to count, I do some shield bashes and swings to get accustomed to the unfamiliar weight. ¡°100! Alright, time¡¯s up. Get the list up.¡± A floating hologram appears in the air with the names of the students and their classes. My heart beats rapidly as I see my name in the first row of the list before a single heavenly word eases my anxiety. ¡°Randomize.¡± Holy s##t. That scared the rocks out of me ugh. Breathe, Cas. The columns shuffle up and down as I hear a few sighs of relief from a few students. The shuffling slows down and breaths of cold air ring out for those people on the top. ¡°Mercury!¡± The lecturer¡¯s voice booms and the sound of metal boots clanking fill the room as a frail young humah boy comes up the stage, his hands shaking from nervousness.
Name: Mercury Race: Humah / ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö Title: ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö Classes: ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö Easily incapacitated
Isneak a peek at the lecturer''s status.
Name: ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö Race: Alkir Title: ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö Classes: ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö INSTANT DEATH, DO NOT ENGAGE!
Well, the medics are going to have a lot of practice subjects in our class huh. Maybe even cadavers. She stops leaning on the log and goes into a combat stance. The air thickens once again with fear and anticipation.¡°Fight for as long as you can. Use everything you have.¡± He runs to her and spins around as he delivers a kick towards the lecturer¡¯s temples. She grabs his foot and tries to fling him upwards, but sparks come out of his boot, electrifying the hand holding it and clamping it down. He sends a stomp towards her face which she grabs with her other hand and then proceeds to slam him down to the ground. Hard. A small crater formed with the unconscious student in the centre. The medical team calmly picked up the student with a floating board and sent him to the sides as the lecturer calls another name. ¡°Ardel!¡± The room quieted down as the only sounds audible are the whispering of the medical team and the loud beating hearts of the students. No one comes up to the arena which visibly irritates the lecturer. ¡°Ardel!¡± She roars once again with a deafening voice, startling the entire class. A guy suddenly scrambles towards the door and vacates the area as fast as he can. The lecturer looks unfazed by this and swipes his name off of the list. ¡°Evelyn!¡±, she continues. Well, this was not what I expected for my first day. [a few bloodbaths later] A lot of students have already run away even before their names were even called. After seeing the matches, it¡¯s understandable why they¡¯ve chosen to do that. I messaged Kat and Kent about it and apparently she¡¯s one of the scariest ones to get, especially for first years. Known as the ¡®Fresher Breaker¡¯, she¡¯s famous, or rather infamous, with making fresher give up on the first day. It sounds stupid but it¡¯s quite appropriate. That medical area looks like it¡¯s seen two consecutive wars. But she¡¯s also one of the best ones to get as her students always eventually turn out to be some of the strongest in their batch. And also I kinda don¡¯t want to be delayed in my first year here. Dad always beat me up when I was six, how different would this be? ¡°Ada!¡±, she shouts seeming like she hasn¡¯t even broken a sweat after the handful of spars she just participated in. An eye-catching efir¡¯esh girl walks up to the arena with a sheathed rapier. Her hair waving mysteriously with the colour of the desert and her auburn eyes that shone with determination, she¡¯s the first one up that didn¡¯t show the least bit of fear towards the lecturer. It¡¯s rare to see another efir¡¯esh. Thinking about it, I''ve only seen two or three in my twelve years here, not including my mother.
Name:Ada Race: Efir''esh Title: ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö Classes: ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö Minor danger, do not ignore
The lecturer nods with a look approval and lowered her stance. Ada, the current victim, unsheathes her rapier with her right hand and points directly in front of her in a typical fencing pose. She lightly stepped forward and appeared directly in front of the lecturer accompanied with the whistle of the wind. *clang* A melodious ringing echoed out as metal hit metal. The lecturer blocked rapier with her metal bracer that¡¯s currently reinforced by a visibly significant amount of aura. A symphony of metal plays as they continue to fight, with the lecturer surprisingly only being on the defensive. Eventually, however, she effortlessly deflects the rapier upwards and out of the girl¡¯s hand and hits her with a palm strike to the chest. This sends her flying towards the wall and hitting it with a significant impact before dropping near the medical area, where they were prepared to receive her immediately. Convenient, maybe I should aim to be thrown towards that direction as well. ¡°Good!¡± The lecturer bellows with a smile. The class is stunned as it is the first time we¡¯ve seen her have any kind of emotion apart from deadpan and annoyed. She looks up and shouts the next name out. ¡°Castiel!¡± Ah well, time to die. I go to the middle, shaking my hands slightly to throw off the nervousness. I lower my stance and put my shield in front of me, with my other hand hovering over my gun. I stood there, waiting for anything to signal the start of the battle. Breathe, Cas. ¡°Come.¡± She says and I immediately unholstered my gun and shot it at her. She crosses her arms to block with her metal bracer and I used immediately to rush at her with the shield reinforced with aura. *clang* I hit her crossed arms with the strength of a truck and shoved it upwards, breaking her guard. I aimed the shotgun at her in point-blank range and fired two barrels at the same time. She lowered her arms fasterat an unbelievably fast speed and blocked the shots. I backed off to create distance and reloaded my gun. ¡° ? Quite a skill. You sure you¡¯re a warrior, boy?¡± I nod and she immediately rushed me with a speed equal to my previous velocity. She kept sending punches towards me, which I kept deflecting with my shield, faster and faster to the point where I¡¯ve begun using to keep up. I feel fatigued as my aura and stamina decreases with each use of and . Having no room to counter, I backed away, using to pull myself backwards, but she chased me while maintaining the same distance as before. We continued this dance for a while before I finally slipped up and she ended up punching straight through the shield and broke my arm. F##k! As I got sent flying, I desperately pointed my shotgun at her and unloaded all three bullets. Crashed to the other side of the arena and stood up immediately into a fighting stance, shieldless and vulnerable. She stares me down for a moment before grinning and shouting, ¡°Well done!¡± I was stunned for a moment, before nodding towards the lecturer and limping to the medical area, which is on the other side of the room. I should¡¯ve aimed for that place, ugh my arm hurts¡­ I got there and sat down on one of the mats as a sheep-eared girl came up to me and gave me a potion. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never seen anyone stay conscious after sparring with that monster. Let alone two.¡± She praised me while patching up my bruises with enchanted bandages. ¡°Two?¡± I asked since I wasn¡¯t aware anyone other than me was barely alive after getting a beating from her. She nods and points towards the efir¡¯esh girl, ¡°She didn¡¯t even flinch as we set her broken ribs.¡± I look at her, flinching as I realized that she¡¯s staring at me. I whispered to the sheep girl, ¡°Why is she looking at me?¡± The sheep girl glances at her before grinning towards me with mischief in her eyes, ¡°Maybe she likes you?¡± I feel her pinch my cheek. ¡°You¡¯re adorable after all, and strong. Anyway, you¡¯re all done, just don¡¯t move that arm around too much.¡± She gives me a wink before leaving. I revelled at the speed with which she fixed my broken arm. If I could learn healing magic, I would. Sadly, my affinity with healing magic is one of the worst ones. That''s actually one of the reasons I wanted to learn alchemy instead, to compensate. Sighing, I massaged my head while looking at the broken shield in front of me. ¡°You didn¡¯t last long, didn¡¯t you? Kern would¡¯ve easily lasted more than thrice as long as you did.¡± I feel a tug of joy from my heart plate as I said that. I glanced at the girl to see if she¡¯s still staring at me and she has already left. I breathed a sigh of relief and a tinge of disappointment. What? Why am I disappointed? I¡¯m not some twelve-year-old with a cru- oh no¡­ I caressed my head in an almost fetal position, dreading the coming years as the harbinger of childhood embarrassment comes crashing in full force. Puberty...